Altered Fates: Sirius Trouble
by David-El
Summary: As their Third Year begins, Eric's last request sends Nico on a mission. Can he solve the mystery of Sirius Black with Dementors breathing down his neck while also playing peacekeeper and matchmaker with his friends?
1. Escapes and the Leaky Cauldron

**A/N:** Here's the third part of _Altered Fates: Sirius Trouble_ (the pun was too good to resist!) and the part where it starts to truly become an AU. Beware, there will be a slash (i.e. boy/boy) relationship in this, specifically Harry/Cedric and there will also be light Ron bashing. There will also be a Hermione/OC relationship, but the OC is _not_ mine (same with anything else you recognize, including the spells! The spells I use belong to Christopher Paolini and the BBC, while I reference the mad genius herself in Diagon Alley. By the way, if you want to watch Harry's memory of Aunt Marge's inflation, see the scene in the PoA film.) Also, to my fellow Harry Potter authors who mention/use Legillimency and Occlumency, PAY ATTENTION TO THIS! I have often read Harry Potter stories where the author mistakes Occlumency (mental shielding) for Legillimency (telepathy/mind reading.) Make sure which is which before you publish (check OotP: Occlumency!) Oh, and thanks to MariusDarkwolf and his story _Harry Potter and the Eyes of the Serpent_ for the inspiration about the Basilisk's effect on Harry. One final note, I have recently learned that British students usually start secondary school (like Hogwarts) at age eleven. I have Hogwarts start at age twelve because in my reality, that is when the magical core stabilizes enough for children to officially start learning spells. Until then, the core is usually quite erratic, thus the 'accidental magic' that is so common among pre-Hogwarts students. After the core stabilizes, accidental magic is reduced to incidents of extreme emotion, such as what is going to be discussed in this chapter. As always: **READ AND REVIEW!**

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter One: Escapes and the Leaky Cauldron**

At 42 Feltrim Ave, Exeter in Devon, Sarah Malfoy-Grace was extremely upset. Part of the reason was because until last year, she had been able to focus on her job and let her friends and husband raise her son, and now she was forced to do so. The other reason was the fact that her son refused to obey or listen to her about anything. The blonde haired, grey-eyed woman held her wand out at the youth in front of her and shouted _"Crucio!"_ intent on getting the boy to listen and obey her. However, the redheaded, golden-eyed boy was far more stubborn and refused to give in. To Nico Sirius Grace, giving in to his mother meant the loss of all his friends and joining his enemies. To give in to her demands meant accepting the pureblood philosophy that he hated and knew was false. Such a choice was unacceptable to him, and thanks to his mother's repeated use of Cruciatus and her Occlumency training from earlier that year (and the year before that,) he was able to focus on turning his wand on his mother and using a spell that he had learned over the summer. _"Astrice!"_ he shouted, hoping that the Muggle-created spell would work, he had, after all only seen it in the new TV show _Merlin_. To his great surprise, it _did_ work, and it worked _perfectly_, sending Mrs Sarah Malfoy-Grace flying into the far wall. With his mother incapacitated, Nico ran to his room, packed all of his things and ran. Ran before his mother woke up, and before his mother's subordinate in the Ministry of Magic, one Malfalda Hopkirk, could send out a letter reprimanding him for underage magic.

The Grace home had been hell for Nico ever since the death of his father a little more than one year before. Eric Julius 'Spike' Grace had died at the hands of Tom Marvolo Riddle, more commonly known as the Dark Lord Voldemort. In Nico's two years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Nico and his best friends Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley (although the last didn't exactly count as a friend, more like co-worker) had already faced Voldemort twice, once protecting the legendary Philosopher's Stone, and the other shutting down the legendary Chamber of Secrets. It was after the Philosopher's Stone incident that Nico started living with only his mother, and she started trying to train him up in the pureblood supremacy beliefs and the Dark Arts. Nico had to admit that some of the Dark Arts had their uses, especially a number of Dark spells, but he was no blood supremacist. And after being exposed to one of the Unforgivable Curses numerous times, Nico had had enough. He was running away, and he wasn't going to go back. The only question was, where would he go?

He could go to the Diggory's, but his mother knew that him and Cedric considered each other brothers, and would probably suspect that he would go there first, so that was out of the question. There was also Neville, but then he'd have to deal with his formidable grandmother, and there were problems there too. First, he had no idea where the Longbottom's lived, and even if he did, Nico would have to deal with the repercussions of having sent Augusta Longbottom a Howler last summer over her treatment of Nev. He had the same problem with the Weasley's, Hermione and Harry: he had absolutely no idea where they lived.

Fortunately, Nico didn't have to worry long as the Knight Bus stopped in front of him and Neville stepped out of it. "Nico? What are you doing? Why are you out here, I thought you said that I'd pick you up at your home." At Nico's puzzled look, Neville said "Windlebeet's, remember? You said that you were going to help me pick out a new wand for my birthday today."

"Oh, right! Sorry, I forgot about that, Nev. My mother's been giving me a lot of trouble. Let me on and I'll explain." After greeting Dre Head (the talking shrunken head on the Knight Bus) and Stan Shunpike, Nico braced himself for the inevitable sudden increase of speed that always came when the Knight Bus started moving again.

The bus had barely started when it quickly lurched to a stop in a Muggle neighbourhood, and a youth with a very familiar mop of unruly black hair stepped aboard. The two friends stared in shock as their mutual friend and nation-wide celebrity Harry Potter, aka The-Boy-Who-Lived stepped aboard. Neville moved to greet their friend, but Nico stopped him. "Why did you do that?"

"Look at Harry, Nev. He's got everything he owns with him, meaning that he's running away. If you were a run-away celebrity, would you want people to recognize you? Let's wait for him to notice us before talking to him."

It was a good thing that they did because Harry clearly _didn't_ want to be found as he gave his name as Neville Longbottom and said he was going to the Leaky Cauldron. Then Harry noticed something that would affect all of their lives that year. "Who is that? That man," he asked, pointing at the front page of the wizarding newspaper _The Daily Prophet._

Stan turned the paper around to see who Harry was talking about. When he saw the photo, he asked in shock "Who is that? Who is . . .? That is Sirius Black, that is. Don't tell me you've never been hearing of Sirius Black." Nico and Harry both had to shake their heads 'no.' Nico had heard a few things about a guy named Sirius Black from his dad, but none of the stories were anymore recent than 1988 or 1989. "He's a murderer. Killed firteen people with one curse. Got himself locked up in Azkaban for it." Nico was in shock. That did _not_ sound like the Sirius Black from his dad's stories.

"How did he escape?"

"Well that's the question, isn't it? E's the first one that done it! He was a big supporter of," here his voice turned to a whisper, "You-Know-Who. Reckon you've heard of him."

"Yeah, him I've heard of." Nico and Nev both knew that was an understatement. You-Know-Who aka Voldemort aka Tom Marvolo Riddle was the reason Harry was famous. Almost thirteen years ago, Voldemort had come to Harry's home and attempted to destroy Harry's family. Thanks to his mother's willing sacrifice though, when Voldemort cast the Killing Curse on Harry, it rebounded, nearly destroying Voldemort.

"Very close to You-Know-Who, they say… anyway, when little Harry Potter got the better of You-Know-Who, all You-Know-Who's supporters was tracked down. Most of 'em knew it was all over, with You-Know-Who gone, and they came quiet. But not Sirius Black. I 'eard he thought he'd be second-in-command once You-Know-Who had taken over. Anyway, they cornered Black in the middle of a street full of Muggles an' Black took out 'is wand and 'e blasted half the street apart, an' a wizard got it, an' so did a dozen Muggles what got in the way. Horrible, eh? An' you know what Black did then?" Stan continued in a dramatic whisper.

"What?" said Harry.

"Laughed," said Stan. "Jus' stood there an' laughed. An' when reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic got there, 'e went with 'em quiet as anything, still laughing 'is 'ead off. 'Cos he's mad, isn't he?"

That was when Harry finally spotted his two friends and walked over to them. "What are you two doing here?"

"Well, I'm going to get a new wand, and Nico's running away from his mother. Got any ideas for where he could go?" Harry immediately suggested that Nico stay at the Leaky Cauldron with him, but Harry insisted that Nico explain what Horcruxes were while he was there, like he had promised at the end of their last adventure. Nico immediately agreed and the three friends decided to meet at the Leaky Cauldron on August 9th, to discuss Horcruxes and work together on their summer homework, as well as their Animagus training. A few minutes later, Harry was dropped off at the Leaky Cauldron and the Knight Bus shot to York and Calypso's. Once at Calypso's, Nico led the way to Windlebeet's Better Wands & Cores Emporium. As before, Peter Windlebeet greeted them and eventually found Neville's new wand, a 33 cm (13 in) Holly wand with Demiguise and Unicorn hair core (one that was apparently exactly the same age as Neville.) Nico then took the Knight Bus back to the Leaky Cauldron and reunited with Harry.

* * *

><p>On August 9th, Neville arrived at the Leaky Cauldron and the three friends gathered in a secluded corner of the room and they looked to Nico to explain what a Horcrux was. Nico cast <em>Muffiliato <em>and started. "Alright, a Horcrux is a _**black**_object, created by only the darkest of wizards. In order to create it, you need to split your soul, something that can only be done by murdering someone in cold blood. Once that has happened, the wizard then uses a black ritual to encase the soul piece inside an object, usually something inanimate that means a great deal to the person. Rarely though, a living creature or even another person can serve as a Horcrux. Once the soul piece is inside the object/creature/person, the Horcrux is nigh on indestructible. Only Basilisk venom and Fiendfyre can destroy the Horcrux. As long as the Horcrux exists, the wizard cannot truly die. He or she can lose their body, but there exists a potion/ritual that can create a new body for that person. If a wizard has created Horcruxes, then the only way to truly kill him is to destroy his Horcruxes. It's rare that a wizard would make more than three, as each time you split your soul, it's split in half, and making three Horcruxes would leave you with only 1/8th of a soul." Seeing their confusion, Nico continued. "You guys have both read or seen _Lord of the Rings_, right? The One Ring is their version of a Horcrux."

Understanding filled their eyes, but then Harry asked "How do you know about these things if they're so dark?"

Nico paled at that. He had been hoping to keep the revelation of his family a secret. And here, Harry had asked the worst possible question. "I know because I have a very dark family. Last month, my mother was invited to her brother's mansion . . . in Wiltshire."

"Wiltshire? But that's the location of . . . Malfoy Manor," Neville said. Then realization hit him. "Are you saying that you're related to . . ."

Nico was shaking. He knew how much Harry and Nev hated the Malfoys and was terrified that they might turn on him when they found out. But there was a reason he was in Gryffindor, he didn't back down because he was scared. "The Malfoys? Yeah, unfortunately I am. My mother is Lucius' sister, making me Draco's first cousin. I hope that doesn't change anything." The two friends assured him that nothing could possibly change their relationship. Once Nico had calmed down, he asked Harry "Why were you running away? Surely your home life can't be that bad, can it?"

"Normally it's bearable, especially after all I've been through, but earlier that day my Uncle Vernon's sister Marge came to visit." Seeing their confused looks, Harry explained. "She is the _worst_ sort of Muggle out there. She thinks that my spoiled, overweight cousin is the pinnacle of humanity while I should have been drowned because of how small I am and she thinks I'm a criminal. But that I could handle. No, what pushed me over the edge is when she started insulting my parents. She called my mom a bad egg and a bitch, and she called my dad, and I quote, 'an unemployed wastrel, a drunk, no-account, good for nothing scrounger.' And well, I just lost control and blew her up." Unnoticed by any of the boys, their drinks, the portrait and mirror all began to shake as Harry explained what Marge had said.

Nico and Neville turned to each other, then turned back to Harry, asking in unison "Blew her up?"

"Well, more like I inflated her, like a balloon."

Nico's eyes gleamed with the same mischievous spark that Fred and George Weasley, the twin master pranksters of Hogwarts, often had. "Would you mind if we watched your memory of that, Harry?"

"Watch my memory? What are you talking about, Nico?"

Nico reached into his trunk and pulled out a thin metal bowl that he had bought earlier that summer on a visit to Knockturn Alley and placed it on the table. "This device is known as a Pensieve. If you focus on the memory and touch your wand to your forehead, you can pull a duplicate of your memory out and review it inside the Pensieve. So, what do you say?" Harry agreed, and pulled out his memory and showed it to his friends. Once they pulled out, they both started laughing, having fully enjoyed the memory, although Nico did notice something odd. It looked to Nico like Harry's eyes changed into snake eyes when he blew Marge up, and then it almost looked like he had petrified his uncle when he left. Oh well, that was a mystery for another time. After the boys recovered, Nico turned to Harry and asked "So, where did she eventually end up?"

"Oh, somewhere in Suffolk, I think. I wasn't exactly paying attention when Fudge mentioned that."

With that taken care of, Nico said, "Speaking of my thrice-damned family and Horcruxes, what are we going to do about that Basilisk?"

"What do you mean?"

"Simply put, the Basilisk is worth it's weight in gold, Harry. _Everything_ about the King of Snakes is useful for something, usually potions. But the venom, skin and bones can be used as wand cores, and the skin can be made into the toughest clothes out there, comfortable, yet also extremely resistant to spells."

"I assume you have a plan?"

"Well, I was thinking that we find someone who _can_ take care of it, we use some of the skin for clothes for ourselves, send the core materials to Windlebeet, let Snape have some of it for potions, and sell the rest."

Harry and Neville stared at him in shock. "You want to give some of our snake to _Snape_ of all people?"

"Well, why not? It might buy some good will. As for the rest of the money, well, I get some so I don't have to worry about my mother cutting me off from the family fortune, give some to everyone who suffered from the Basilisk, and well, you guys decide what to do with the rest. Although, we're going to have to go back down there and get it out of the water so it doesn't decompose too much." As much as Harry and Neville hated the idea of giving some to Snape, they had to agree it could possibly help, and they decided to go along with the plan.

* * *

><p>Over the next month, the three boys quickly took care of their homework (although Nico did add some things to his History of Magic report. Binns had asked for a report on why Muggle witch burnings were pointless, and Nico had added information on how it had lead to the death of many innocents, magical and Muggle alike.) They then spent the rest of their time just enjoying themselves and getting closer to each other and their schoolmates as they came to get their supplies for the upcoming year (including a biting book for Care of Magical Creatures. Fortunately Nico managed to figure out how to calm it down by stroking it's spine.) Among them was one of the victims of the Basilisk the previous year and one of Harry's newest friends: Justin Finch-Fletchley, a wizard in their year that had no clue about his blood status as he had been left in an orphanage when he was young, only to be adopted by a rich gay couple. A few days after Justin's visit, the two friends put an ad in the <em>Daily Prophet<em> for someone to come and take care of the Basilisk, paying to keep the ad in until someone answered.

Finally, on August 27th, Hermione and the Weasley's showed up at Diagon Alley with Hermione immediately getting after Harry for blowing up his aunt. But with the help of the Pensieve, Hermione quickly laid off and even sided with Harry. Ron was quite proud of his new wand, also from Windlebeet's: 34 cm (14 in) yew with Chimera Scale and (ironically enough, considering his phobia and one of their adventures last year) Acromantula Web. Hermione and Ron then decided to go to Magical Menagerie, Hermione wanted her own pet while Ron went to get a tonic for his rat Scabbers, who had recently started to look ill. Inside, Madame Rowling mentioned that a rat like Scabbers usually didn't live past three years, yet Scabbers was quite a bit older. She had just provided a tonic when a large orange cat came out of nowhere and attacked Scabbers. Harry, Nico and Neville all laughed when Hermione decided to buy the cat, much to Ron's dismay.

Then the night of August 30th, Harry was heading down to find the rat tonic when he overheard an argument between the two oldest Weasleys. "It makes no sense not to tell him," Mr. Weasley was saying heatedly. "Harry's got a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He's thirteen years old and —"

"Arthur, the truth would terrify him!" said Mrs. Weasley shrilly. "Do you really want to send Harry back to school with that hanging over him? For heaven's sake, he's happy not knowing!"

"I don't want to make him miserable, I want to put him on his guard!" retorted Mr. Weasley. "You know what Harry and his friends are like, wandering off by themselves. For Merlin's sake, they've ended up in the Forbidden Forest twice! But Harry mustn't do that this year! When I think what could have happened to him that night he ran away from home! If the Knight Bus hadn't picked him up, I'm prepared to bet he would have been dead before the Ministry found him."

"But he's not dead, he's fine, so what's the point —"

"Molly, they say Sirius Black's mad, and maybe he is, but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban, and that's supposed to be impossible. It's been three weeks, and no one's seen hide nor hair of him, and I don't care what Fudge keeps telling the Daily Prophet, we're no nearer to catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands. The only thing we know for sure is what Black's after —"

"But Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts."

"We thought Azkaban was perfectly safe. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts. Besides, you remember what Percy and the twins have said about the last two years. Hogwarts is _not_ perfectly safe for Harry!"

"But no one's really sure that Black's after Harry —" There was a thud on wood, and Harry was sure Mr. Weasley had banged his fist on the table.

"Molly, how many times do I have to tell you? They didn't report it in the press because Fudge wanted it kept quiet, but Fudge went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards told Fudge that Blacks been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words: 'He's at Hogwarts… he's at Hogwarts.' Black is deranged, Molly, and he wants Harry dead. If you ask me, he thinks murdering Harry will bring You-Know-Who back to power. Black lost everything the night Harry stopped You-Know-Who, and he's had twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that…"

There was a silence. Harry leaned still closer to the door, desperate to hear more. "Well, Arthur, you must do what you think is right. But you're forgetting Albus Dumbledore. I don't think anything could hurt Harry at Hogwarts while Dumbledore's Headmaster. I suppose he knows about all this?"

"Of course he knows. We had to ask him if he minds the Azkaban guards stationing themselves around the entrances to the school grounds. He wasn't happy about it, but he agreed, eventually."

"Not happy? Why shouldn't he be happy, if they're there to catch Black?"

"Dumbledore isn't fond of the Azkaban guards," said Mr. Weasley heavily. "Nor am I, if it comes to that… but when you're dealing with a wizard like Black, you sometimes have to join forces with those you'd rather avoid. Still, Dementors . . ."

"If they save Harry —"

"– then I will never say another word against them," said Mr. Weasley wearily. "It's late, Molly, we'd better go up…"

Harry heard chairs move. As quietly as he could, he hurried down the passage to the bar and out of sight. The parlour door opened, and a few seconds later footsteps told him that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were climbing the stairs. He quickly found the rat tonic and delivered it to Ron before retreating to the room he and his two friends had been sharing for a month. Nico looked up at his friend and asked "Is something wrong?"

"Apparently, Sirius Black is hunting me. That's why I wasn't punished for blowing up Marge and why he insisted that I stay in Diagon Alley. He's why the Ministry is sending cars for us tomorrow and they're posting some of the Azkaban guards at Hogwarts."

Nico and Neville both paled at that. "They're doing _what?_ What the HELL are they THINKING?" Neville demanded.

"Isn't it obvious, Nev. The Ministry _isn't_ thinking AT ALL! Why else would they put DEMENTORS AROUND A SCHOOL! My God, I thought Fudge had at least a _little_ sense but this! Damn, the Firsties are going to be terrified!"

"Um, what _are_ Dementors?"

Neville stepped up to explain. "They are the foulest creature known to wizardkind. They freeze the very air around you and suck every happy memory from you, and make you relive your worst memory. That's why there's never been an escape from Azkaban before, and that's not the worst they can do! If given the chance, they suck the very _soul_ from your body, making so that you can never move on after death. _That_ is what that IDIOT of a Minister is putting around Hogwarts. And to make it even worse, there's only one defence against them, and they don't even teach it at Hogwarts, or if they do, it's only in Advanced Defence. The only people who really know it is Aurors!"

"Ookay, getting back on topic, what about Sirius Black? Do you think I should worry? I mean, he did kill thirteen people with one curse."

Neville shrugged, but Nico scoffed. "Not if it's the Sirius Black I've heard of. He would never kill anyone unless that person was a Death Eater, and only then if it was absolutely necessary. Killing a wizard and twelve Muggles is beyond him. If it were his cousin, Bellatrix, I'd definitely believe it, but not him. Especially considering he was our dad's best friend!"

Harry stared at him in shock. "What do you mean, our dad's best friend?"

"I haven't told you about the Marauders? Damn, I've been negligent in my duties as best friend." Nico then reached into his bag and duplicated a book inside. "This is my dad's journal from his first three years at Hogwarts. It talks a lot about his best friends James Potter, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Call it my late birthday present to you."


	2. The Dementor

**A/N: **Happy belated birthday to Gred and Forge Weasley! Once again, this is un-beta'd, so please forgive me for any OOCness, especially when it comes to Professor Moony! Also, this chapter explains my ideas on how a galleon can be equal to only five pounds sterling when it's made out of gold.

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Two: The Dementor**

The next day, Ron and Hermione had the most recent of their famous rows, and it resulted in the decision that once again, Hogwarts most famous trio of friends would once again be divided on the train. The Weasley's and their friends then took specially provided cars from the Ministry to King's Cross where they quickly snuck onto Platform 9 ¾. Once there, Nico overheard Mrs Weasley finishing up a story. "So, because we didn't realize that the dose wasn't powerful enough, we continued dosing him anew each day. But by the time we stopped dosing Lestrange, he believed he had actually fallen in love with Black. We expected the potion to clear out of his system in a few weeks or months, but he actually married her!"

Nico decided to interrupt there. "Now, now Mrs Weasley, you should stop telling stories like that. The girls might get the wrong idea and dose their dream guys instead of winning them the traditional way. Nice thing about Muggles is the fact that they _can't_ dose people into loving them." Mrs Weasley probably would have got after him for that, if she could have stopped spluttering.

Once onboard the train, Nico, Neville, Harry and Hermione quickly found a compartment that was only being used by one person, an adult that Mione quickly identified as "Professor R J Lupin." Harry and Nico turned at each other in shock. It couldn't possibly be Remus 'Moony' Lupin, could it? If so, then Harry had a big question to ask him. Going by his ratty clothes and tattered suitcase, Nico figured it was quite probable, considering the fact that Remus Lupin couldn't get a job thanks to his 'furry little problem.' Figuring out his identity could wait though, Nico was a little curious about Crookshanks. "Say, Hermione? How much did you pay for that cat of yours?"

"Oh, just a galleon. Madame Rowling said he would have cost two or three normally, considering he's half kneazle, but cut the price down because of how long he'd been there. Why?"

Nico stared at her in shock. "_Only_ a galleon? What do you mean, _only_ a galleon?"

"What? It's not that much. The goblins have always given us the same amount of money for our pounds when we exchange: five pounds for every galleon."

Nico and Neville both stared at her in shock, until Neville explained. "Hermione, galleons are worth a lot more than five pounds sterling. On the few occasions that my Gran and I have gone Muggle shopping, we've always received _at least_ forty pounds per galleon, and usually about fifty."

"WHAT? But why?"

Neville continued. "Because galleons are made of gold, Hermione! The only thing I can think of is that they want to help out Muggleborns because of the prejudice both you and the goblins get from purebloods."

Deciding to get the conversation away from economics and pureblood prejudice, Harry explained to Hermione about Sirius Black and mentioned that Mr Weasley had specifically asked him not to go looking for Black just before they got on the train. Hermione's response was immediate. "Sirius Black escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry, you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry."

"I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds me." They sat in silence for a few seconds before Harry asked "So, how do you think he escaped?"

"Who knows? Hey, why does Fudge think Black is after you?" Neville asked. Harry then explained what Mr Weasley had said about Black. "But that could mean anyone of the hundreds' of guys at Hogwarts! Hell, for all we know he could be after Snape. Besides, if he was going to go after you, wouldn't it have been smarter to have broken out two years ago when we started?"

"Probably, Nev. Hey, if it is the Sirius that I've heard of, he probably _would_ go after Snape! Those two _hated_ each other! Although, you have to wonder why he chose now to break-" Nico's musings were stopped by a light tapping on the window. Mione (who was sitting next to the window) decided to open it and find out what was causing the taps. Immediately in flew a large Great Horned Owl, one with the Gringott's crest on it's chest, immediately landed next to Nico, presenting it's leg to him. Confused, Nico reached for the letter while Neville pulled out his new wand and transfigured a scrap of cloth into a water goblet and filled it for the owl, who hooted gratefully.

Once Nico had opened and read the letter, he burst into laughter. Once he calmed down enough, he said "If I ever doubt coincidence or Fate ever again, slap me!"

"Why?" Hermione asked. In response, Nico read out the letter. It said:

_Dear Nico,_

_As I write this, it has been about seven months since that fateful Halloween night when Voldemort was defeated by Harry Potter (who I hope is now a good friend of yours,) and we have just celebrated your second birthday. Hopefully by now, you know of the circumstances behind ol' Moldy's attack on the Potter's, but just in case, I'm going to tell you now._

_Lily and James knew that Voldy was after them, and as such had gone into hiding. Their last hiding place, a home at Godric's Hollow, was placed under the Fidelius Charm. The Fidelius Charm is a complex spell that hides a secret inside a person's soul. The Secret-Keeper can never reveal the secret unwillingly, not even under Veritaserum, Legillimency, or the Imperious Curse. The Potter's Secret-Keeper was a Death Eater spy and revealed their location to Voldemort. That is the one piece of this mystery that everyone agrees on._

_Now, what I'm about to tell you is what most people believe. Sirius Black was the Secret-Keeper and after finding out that Voldy had gone Moldy at the Potter's, he went nuts. Peter Pettigrew then confronted him, and Sirius killed him and a dozen Muggles with a single curse. However, I do not believe this to be true. Padfoot was too clever and too good a chess player to have made such a stupid move, and he **hated** his family, who were loyal Voldemort supporters. The three of us were such close friends that James and I even made him godfather to you and Harry, and I even took his name for your middle name. I believe that Sirius was the **public** Secret-Keeper, and that he convinced Lily and Prongs to switch Secret-Keepers in order to protect them and lure the Death Eaters into a trap. Unfortunately he accidentally made the real spy (who I believe to be Wormtail,) the Secret-Keeper, and knowing this went after him._

_I believe this to be true, but I cannot find any proof of it. That is why I have decided to write this letter and have the Gringott's goblins deliver it to you on September 1 of your Third Year. I hope that you can somehow find the truth about what happened and free Sirius. I know it sounds difficult, but sometimes cases are more easily solved cold than hot._

_Good luck son, and I love you,_

_Dad_

"See what I mean about Fate and coincidence? The year that Sirius _just happens _to break out of Azkaban is the year that my _late_ father decides to have this letter delivered to me."

"So, Black is supposed to have delivered my parents to Voldemort, yet he hates pureblood supremacists? Well, this should be a very interesting year, don't you think?" Harry asked.

A snort was heard coming from the supposedly asleep Professor Lupin. Nico turned to the teacher and said "Alright Professor Moony, we know you're awake. So why don't you officially join the realm of the living?" No response. "Okay, if you don't want to admit you're awake, I guess I don't have to share this bar of Honeyduke's finest dark chocolate, do I?"

_That_ got his attention, as Lupin shot up at the word 'chocolate.' Lupin turned to the redhead, saying "Not bad, Nico. But how did you know that I'd get up with the offer of chocolate? Speaking of which, where is it?"

Nico just laughed while breaking off a piece for him. "Moony, your addiction to chocolate is well documented in my dad's old journals, how could I not know?"

"Well, that makes sense. But you do realize that it's Professor Lupin now, right? And I am _not_ addicted to chocolate!"

"Ahh, but Moony! We're not at school yet!" Nico whined.

Lupin just laughed before turning to Harry and the others. "I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Remus Lupin, and I'm going to be your Defence teacher this year. And as you've probably guessed, I was a good friend of Nico's father back when we were in school."

"And obviously my father, and yet you never tried to contact me. Why? I just want to know why."

"I had no idea where you were, Harry. Minerva and Dumbledore kept your location a complete secret. Also, Dumbledore claims that the wards protecting you at your home couldn't take the stress of having me visit you. But that didn't stop me from trying to gain custody, the Ministry did that. I did write though, didn't you get any of my letters?"

"No, my first letter was my Hogwarts letter." That confused everyone, as they knew that Harry should have been inundated with letters, but they didn't dwell on it. For the next few hours, Remus told the friends tales of when the Marauders were at school, although he did his best to avoid the subject of Sirius Black. Having Remus in their compartment brought an unforeseen benefit, as Draco and his goons avoided them. In fact, the trip passed quite uneventfully, until about an hour before they were set to arrive at Hogsmeade Station. That was when the train stopped and the lights turned off for no apparent reason. Harry asked if it was possible that the train had broken down, but Hermione mentioned that it was impossible because the train ran on magic. That's when Neville noticed that the windows had all frosted over, as had the water in the goblet, like the temperature had dropped ten or twenty degrees Celsius (thirty or forty in Fahrenheit) in a matter of seconds. "Everyone stay put!" Remus ordered.

Then _it_ appeared. When they first saw it, it was nothing more than a large shadow on the other side of the glass door. But then it opened the door using some form of telekinesis. As the door opened, the creature's skeletal hand appeared, pulling the door all the way open, revealing the creature. The invader appeared to be about the size of a tall human covered in an old, decaying cloak with a hood hiding it's face. It took a breath, and turned towards Harry, but all were affected. Harry fainted under the creature's influence, Hermione shook like she was being electrocuted, Neville like he was under the Cruciatus, and Nico suffered nearly as bad as Harry before Remus pulled out his wand and said "None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Now go!" When the creature continued to feed off of Harry, Remus cast a spell, causing it to flee the compartment.

Hermione was the first to recover from the being's affects and immediately began to check on her boys. Eventually they all recovered, with Harry asking about someone screaming. Remus handed them all pieces of chocolate saying "Here, eat this, it'll help."

"What was that thing?" Neville asked.

"It was a Dementor, one of the guards of Azkaban. It's gone now, it was searching the train for Sirius Black. Now, if you'll excuse me for a few minutes, I need to talk to the driver." He walked to the door, then turned back and, noticing that they hadn't eaten their chocolate, said "Eat, you'll feel better."

Nico took a bite of the chocolate saying "And he claims to not be a chocoholic. Why else would he have chocolate on him 24/7?" Everyone laughed and within half an hour, they arrived at Hogsmeade Station. As soon as they arrived at the carriages, Harry yelped and asked "What are those things?"

"What things, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Those horse things in front of the carriages! What are they?"

"Oh, not you too! Nico and Neville have been saying there are winged horses pulling the carriages, but there's nothing there! Why would you three be able to see them and no one else?"

"You know, Mione, there is an easy way to find out if they are real. We can just ask our Care of Magical Creatures professor if he/she knows about winged horses that only certain people can see." When they arrived at Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione were immediately called to see Professor McGonagall. The duo didn't come out of her office until the Sorting had finished (odd, considering it was the longest Sorting they'd had in their three years at Hogwarts.) The recently added school chorus then did a little introductory song, Double Trouble, conducted by Charms Professor, Filius Flitwick, who was looking surprisingly younger. Nico and Neville would have asked about the meeting but before they could, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore stood up for the start-of-term announcements.

"Welcome, welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast." Nico laughed at that. One of the things was very 'Sirius' indeed. "First off, the Dark Forest is, as always, strictly off limits to all students. Second, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our staff. Professor R J Lupin has kindly consented to fill the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. As to our second new appointment, Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher for many years, has decided to retire in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. Fortunately, I am delighted to announce that he has been replaced by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid." That brought a tumultuous applause by ¾ of the students, many of them proclaiming that they should have known it was him based on the text book. Hagrid's chosen textbook, _The Monster Book of Monsters_ was truly a book only Hagrid and people like him could love, as it was the book that had a habit of biting, unless it was stroked along the spine.

"Finally, on a more disquieting note, as you are all aware after the search of the Hogwarts Express, at the request of the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts will, until further notice, play host to a large number of the Dementors of Azkaban, until such a time as Sirius Black has been captured. They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises — or even Invisibility Cloaks. Now, whilst I've been assured that their presence will not disrupt our day-to-day activities, a word of caution. Dementors are vicious creatures, they will not distinguish between the one they hunt, and the one who gets in their way. Therefore, I must warn each and everyone one of you to give them no reason to harm you. It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving. But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of time, if one only remembers to turn on the light." After the feast, the everyone went to their common rooms, with the Gryffindors being 'treated' to the Fat Lady attempting to break a glass by 'singing.' After she quit, she finally let them in, and they filed into their dorms, all of them glad to be home.

**A/N:** Alright, another quick note. First, the reactions to the Dementors. Hermione has a worse reaction because I think Rowling underestimated her reaction to the memories I believe the Dementors would have her relive: Ron's statement after Charms in First Year, the troll, the basilisk, and having to leave Harry in Snape's chamber in PS/SS. Nico's memory is seeing his dad die and being under his mom's Crucio, while Neville's is watching his parents under Crucio and feeling it himself. (Hey, if Harry can remember his parents last words, why can't Neville remember that?) As for why Harry can see the Thestrals, well, I'm going with the movie on how Quirrell died, so Harry can see them because of that. Hermione can't see them, and we all know her beliefs about things that can't be seen thanks to Luna-she scoffs at the possibility that they exist unless an authority figure or a book say they do. As for the reason I make Dumbledore say that Hogwarts is playing host to 'a large number' of the Dementors, do any of you really think that they'd empty Azkaban of Dementors for only _one_ prisoner, even to protect The-Boy-Who-Lived? Up next, the first classes: Arithmancy, Wandlore, CoMC and DADA. As always,** READ AND REV**IEW, especially about Professor Moony!


	3. First Week Back

**A/N:** This chapter references several classes that are noncanon. The reason for this is that it is impossible to believe that Hermione would need a time-turner when she only has three classes more than canon Ron and Harry. Another thing is that one of our fellow authors has created a schedule that has thirteen open hours when a student is taking all possible electives. Admittedly there is no day class for Astronomy but still, there is plenty of time for more classes. Also, where are the classes that lead into the healer field, to become an Unspeakable, a wandmaker, in the government, or a curse breaker? There are so many jobs out there in the wizarding world yet we are supposed to believe that you can get all of them through only twelve classes, and that you need a time turner in order to take all twelve classes? I doubt, especially considering the fact that we KNOW Percy Weasley took twelve classes to NEWT level. The Arithmancy numbers for both Hermione and Nico come from _The Sorcerer's Companion: Arithmancy Calculator_, which can be found at: www sorcererscompanion net/arithmancy html The description about Ancient and Noble Houses comes from another author's story, however I cannot remember the author's name, or the name of the story. And I finally got my Hogwarts letter, thank you Pottermore! My username is MirrorMahogany19649 of Slytherin House. Oh, and thanks to the22thdoctor for being my first reviewer!

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Three: First Week Back**

The next morning, the Weasley twins delivered the course schedules to the five friends and Hermione was pleased to discover that they would be starting some of their new classes that day. Ron however noticed a slight problem with her schedule. Because of how many classes Mione was taking, several of her classes were at the same time. For example, Arithmancy, Divination and Muggle Studies were all at 9, while Vocal Magic and Care were both at 1. Mione just said that she fixed it with McGonagall and moved on to another subject. After breakfast, Nico and Hermione headed to their first Arithmancy class with Professor Septima Vector.

Professor Vector was a fairly beautiful witch, but like Professor McGonagall, she was a no-nonsense teacher. "Arithmancy. To many it is merely another version of divination, but unlike divination, there is no guess work or possibility of chance. This is math, pure and simple. By corresponding letters to numbers, we can learn about our weaknesses and strengths, overcome obstacles and predict the future." After a basic math test to make sure everyone could do the math, she then revealed a basic numerology chart, showing what letters corresponded to which number, as well as a calculation method. "Using this, I want you to take your partner's name and determine their Vibrational, Character, Heart, and Social numbers and then determine how accurate that is to your partner."

With some quick calculations, Nico quickly discovered Hermione's Vibrational (1,) Heart, Character (both 4,) and Social (9) numbers. Nico could not say he was surprised by the results, as they both described Hermione perfectly. Vibrational ones primarily dealt with new beginnings (perfect for a Muggleborn,) were independent, focused and determined. Fours were described as "practical, reliable and down to earth; they prefer logic and reason to flights of fancy. They are good at organization and getting things done," and "stubborn, suspicious, overly practical and prone to angry outbursts." Nines on the other hand would "dedicate themselves to service, often as teachers, scientists, and humanitarians. Strongly determined, they work tirelessly and are an inspiration to others." That was Hermione all over. Maybe there was something to this Arithmancy after all.

That notion was dashed when Hermione showed him _his _numbers_._ Like Mione, his Social number was 9, which was accurate, but when it came to his other numbers, there were definite flaws. He was described as a Vibrational 9 while his other numbers were both 3: "indicates talent, energy, an artistic nature, humour, and social ease. Threes are often lucky, easygoing, and highly successful, but they can also be unfocused, easily offended, and superficial." Some of that did describe him well, but social ease? Easygoing? Unfocused, easily offended and superficial? He was anything but. For homework, they were given the task of doing the same calculations for all of their friends.

After Arithmancy, they went to Transfiguration, where McGonagall started teaching about Animagi, which brought a smile to Nico's face as he was already an Animagus and he was teaching his friends how to be ones as well. However, most of the class didn't react at all to her change from human to a tabby cat and back again. "Really, what has got into you all today?" said Professor McGonagall, staring around at them all. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."

Nearly the entire class turned towards Harry, but nobody spoke. Then Hermione raised her hand. "Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and —" Nico stared at her in shock. What was she talking about, just coming from Divination? How in Godric's name was that possible?

"Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning. "There is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"

"Me," said Harry angrily, showing a slight burst of his temper, which managed to damage one of the books. Fortunately Hermione quickly repaired it before McGonagall could do anything about it.

"I see," said Professor McGonagall, fixing Harry with her beady eyes, quite upset about the damage to the book, no matter how temporary. "Then you should know, Potter, that Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favourite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues —" Professor McGonagall broke off, and they saw that her nostrils had gone white.

She took a breath and then went on, more calmly, "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney…" She stopped again, and then said, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."

During lunch, they talked about the divination lesson, and by the time it was over, Nico was quite glad he had decided not to join the class. Trelawney seemed like a fraud, especially considering the fact that several of her small predictions had not come true. He fully expected that at least Hermione and Harry would be quitting the class at the end of the year, if not sooner. After their discussion, the five friends headed down to Hagrid's hut for their first Care of Magical Creatures class, which they unfortunately had with Nico's recently discovered cousin and his gang of Slytherins. Hagrid promised them a great lesson, "A real treat" as he called it, and led them into the Dark Forest. Once they reached a small stone boundary, he stopped and said "Right, you lot. Less chattering. Form a group over there. And open your books to page 49."

Draco actually asked a good question for once "Exactly how do we do that?"

Hagrid answered as though it were obvious. "Just stroke the spine, of course. Goodness me." Draco was doubtful, but to Nico's eyes, it looked like he _smiled_ after Hagrid was proven right. Hagrid then left to collect the creature they were studying, leaving Draco free to taunt Harry and insult Hagrid. To Nico though, it almost seemed like Draco was only doing it so that he'd have some of Harry's attention, but he shook the thought from his mind. Why would his pureblood maniac cousin want to associate with a lowly half-blood? Fortunately, Hagrid quickly returned with what appeared to be a horse-eagle hybrid that he called Buckbeak. Ron asked what it was, with Hagrid quickly responding "That, Ron, is a hippogriff. First thing you wanna know about hippogriffs is that they're very proud creatures. Very easily offended. You do not want to insult a hippogriff. It may just be the last thing you ever do. Now, who'd like to come and say hello?" Pretty much everyone backed off immediately, leaving only Harry and Nico standing where they were, and since Harry was the closer of the pair, Hagrid called on Harry. He reluctantly walked up while Hagrid gave him his instructions. "Now, you have to let him make the first move. It's only polite. So, step up. Give him a nice bow. Then you wait and see if he bows back. If he does, you can go and touch him. If not, well, we'll get to that later."

Very reluctantly, Harry bowed and exposed his neck to Buckbeak, with Hagrid giving little hints and tips the whole time. Buckbeak apparently didn't like Harry and made threatening motions towards Harry, causing Hagrid to tell him to back off. Still bowing, Harry started to follow Hagrid's instructions. But with his first step back, Harry stepped on a branch, so Hagrid told him to keep still. Hermione was so scared that she grabbed on to the nearest arm, which just happened to belong to Nico. Then, to everyone's surprise, Buckbeak bowed his head, so Hagrid said that Harry could go and pet him. Draco and his gang pushed forward, obviously hoping to see Harry get attacked. But Buckbeak did no such thing. In fact, Buckbeak seemed to be starting to like Harry nearly as much as he did Hagrid, so Hagrid had Harry ride him. Picking Harry up (despite Harry's objections,) Hagrid put him on Buckbeak's back and gave the hippogriff a slap, causing him to go off at a run and take off. Buckbeak took Harry on a flight over the castle and the Black Loch, with Harry quite obviously enjoying the ride, whooping out in joy.

Once Harry returned to the ground, Hagrid gave Harry ten points for his success, while Draco pushed forward. Nico quickly realized what his cousin was going to do and followed him. As soon as Draco was close to Buckbeak, he called out "You're not dangerous at all, are you, you great ugly brute!" Buckbeak was quite obviously offended at that, but before he could do anything to the Malfoy heir, Nico tackled him, taking the hit for his cousin. Buckbeak's talons dug deep into his back, nearly hitting his spine. Once Buckbeak realized he hurt the wrong person, he bowed to Nico, and took a snap at Draco. Draco on the other hand turned to Nico and asked "What did you do that for?" He was obviously confused as to why a Gryffindor would risk themselves for him.

"Call it a misguided sense of family loyalty, _cousin_," Nico whispered

"_What?"_ he whispered back.

"When you tell your father about this, as I'm sure you're going to . . . you can tell him that you got his nephew hurt because of your stupidity. Hagrid clearly said to _never_ insult a hippogriff," Nico gasped out. Hagrid took thirty points from Slytherin (ten for disobeying instructions and twenty for causing another student to get injured) while giving twenty more points to Gryffindor and then asked for Harry and his friends to help him take Nico to the hospital wing, calling out class dismissed. While they were going there (with Nico being levitated to prevent further injury) Nico told Hagrid "You better continue the lesson next time, professor. I'm looking forward to flying on Buckbeak." Hagrid just smiled at Nico, pleased to hear that Nico didn't blame him and wanted him to continue the hippogriff lesson. Ron on the other hand had overheard everything, and glared at Nico, the old dislike for the other Gryffindor quickly turning into hatred. Draco, unnoticed by the other Slytherins, gave his cousin a small smile of thanks as he walked to Madame Pomfrey's.

Madame Pomfrey mended his back inside of five hours, causing Nico to nearly miss dinner, as well as missing Charms. While he was there, Draco visited him and said, "Listen, I'm sorry about what happened. You were right, I should have paid more attention. Because I didn't, you were hurt, and if there's anything I've learned from Mum, it's to always value your family."

"Thanks Draco, and don't worry about the apology. We are family, and I'd jump between you and a hippogriff again if it meant you were safe. You are the only member of our family that I've met that I could also like. At least you don't try to torture or kill me, you just joke around. Speaking of which, I'll do my best to create a countercurse for the Mudblood spell. Sorry about that, I was a little crazy when you said it." Draco smiled at his cousin, and forgave him for the curse, although he was a little worried, and concerned. What did Nico mean about their family torturing or killing him? Damn, why couldn't he be a legillimens like his godfather? "Besides, I don't think that you're as much of a prat as you act. If I could win you over to our side, that helps both us and you out when Voldemort comes back. Even tomorrow might be a day too late, so I might as well forgive and forget." Draco smiled at his cousin, glad that he worried about him. Then Nico asked him a question he really hoped he wouldn't. "Draco, why do you really taunt Harry so much? Do you really hate him, or is there some other reason?"

Draco sighed, then answered. "No, I don't hate him, I don't think I ever could. Part of the reason is, at least when I taunt him, he pays more attention to me than he does to the Weasel. Second, haven't you noticed by now that the Weasel reacts more than Harry does when I taunt Harry? It's a lot of fun getting on his nerves." The last part was all said with the classical smirk on his face.

"But why do you hate him? I mean, you couldn't have known him before the train, could you?"

Draco paled again. If he told his cousin the full truth, he probably wouldn't believe him. Well, at least he could educate Nico on family history. "I actually did know him from before, but that's a story for another time. We Malfoys have hated the Weasleys for a long time now. See, around 1820, Emily Malfoy was married to a Conaire Weasley and was pregnant with his child. Then some mudblood caught his eye and he divorced her. Aeneas Malfoy, Emily's father and our ancestor gathered a few of the British Wizarding families together, including the Blacks, Potters and Longbottoms, and declared a feud against the Weasleys. Within ten years, the alliance had destroyed their reputation and stripped them of anything of value, except for one piece of land. Ever since then, the Weasleys have been attempting to regain their status, but the closest they've gotten is Mr Weasley's position as Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department, and Bill Weasley's position of Cursebreaker at Gringotts. They've hated our family ever since, and ignored most of the other families that were involved. Pretty much the only other family they still hate is the Black family."

"Wow, long feud. What happened to their fortune and I guess Wizengamot seat?"

"The Wizengamot seat was given to us, while the money was split between us and the Black family, and the land was given to the Potters. Hey, listen, if you want, we can get to know each other and I can tell you more of our family history, although it would probably be best if others didn't know."

"I'd like that, cousin." Draco smiled and turned to leave, but Nico stopped him by asking "Hey, Draco? What's that on your sleeve? I never noticed it before now."

Draco looked down at his sleeve, not seeing anything that could have caught his attention, until he looked at his shoulder, where a new patch had been added. "Oh, you mean the patch? Well, for any of the Ancient or Noble Houses, we have family crests that the children can start wearing in their third year at school. This is the Malfoy patch. I'm a little surprised that Longbottom and Potter aren't wearing one. I'll get you one for when you're ready to let everyone else know about our relationship."

"Thanks, but Draco? What are the Ancient and Noble Houses? My _mother_ has been focusing on teaching me the Dark Arts, not Wizard Society."

Draco shook his head and explained, all the while wondering what his aunt could have done to get cool and collected Nico to hate her so much. "The Ancient and Noble Houses are basically our nobility. An Ancient House is one that can trace itself back at least ten generations, and a Most Ancient House goes back at least twenty generations. The Malfoy family has, unfortunately, only been in England for the past six generations. We were a Most Ancient and Noble House in France before the Revolution, which affected both worlds. Supposedly we're descendants of Charlemagne, but as he wasn't a wizard, it's hard to prove. Any way, a Noble House, which we count as, have a title up to baron, which is our rank. A Most Noble House goes from viscount to duke. A small number of families count as both Ancient and Noble, like the Black or Potter families. It's far more common to just be one or the other. Hell, even the Weasley's can count as an Ancient House, though I'm not sure if they're a Most Ancient House." Draco then left Nico to his thoughts, while pondering his own. Why weren't Potter and Longbottom wearing their family crests? As the last scions of two Most Ancient and Noble Houses, they should, so why not, especially considering they held two of the highest titles in the kingdom? When Nico arrived at dinner that day, he found that Sirius Black was spotted in Dufftown, a village only a few miles to the east, which meant he was getting closer to whatever he was hunting. After the discussion about Black, Nico told his three friends about his encounter with his cousin in the Hospital Wing. Neville was a little doubtful about Draco's intentions, but Harry and Hermione were willing to give him a chance.

On Wednesday, Nico, Harry, Hermione and Neville started Cursebreaking, and continued in Neville's favourite class, Herbology. The next day, Thursday, Snape started bullying Neville in potions again. Of course, he only did it when Neville wasn't working with Nico as he knew that together they were a formidable potions team. Trouble was, when Nev _wasn't_ working with Nico, he was terrible in the classroom because Snape positively _terrified_ Neville. And seeing as how Snape threatened to test Nev's Shrinking Solution on his Houdini-like toad Trevor, that terrified him even more. That ended up as a good news, bad news situation. The good news was that Neville managed to successfully brew the potion and Trevor survived. The bad news: he did it with Mione's help and Snape knew it, causing him to take ten points from Gryffindor. After class, Nico and Harry let Snape know about the Basilisk and that he could have his pick of the portions that he needed. Snape actually _thanked_ them before sending them away.

After lunch, their next class was DADA, their first one with Professor Lupin, and the first time they had the class with the Ravenclaws. To their surprise, Snape was waiting in the room and he made a nasty comment about Neville, claiming that he couldn't do anything without Mione or Nico whispering instructions in his ear. Lupin just raised his eyebrows and said "I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation, and I am sure he will perform it admirably." Snape left the room in a flurry of robes, slamming the door behind him. "Don't mind him. He apparently still holds a grudge against me from our school days. Funny, but I'd thought that he would forget it by now." Then a closet behind them shook, and everyone turned to stare at it. As it shook again, Lupin said "Intriguing, isn't it? Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what is inside?" Dean identified it as a boggart, to which Lupin congratulated him and asked "Now, can anyone tell me what a boggart _looks_ like?"

Hermione quickly answered "No one knows. Boggarts are shape shifters. They take the shape of whatever a person fears the most. That's what makes them so-"

"So terrifying, yes. However, that means that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"

Harry wasn't quite sure, but he ventured a guess based on what it was. "Because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"

"Precisely. It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake-tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening. Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart. Let's practice it now. _Without _wands, please. After me: _Riddikulus!_" After they practiced that, Lupin continued "So much for the easy part. You see, the incantation alone is not enough. What really finishes a boggart is _laughter_. You need to force it into a shape you find truly amusing. Let me explain. Neville, would you join me please?" Neville was a little shocked at that, as he'd never been called on to do anything in class before, except for Herbology. When he got in front of Lupin, Lupin asked "Neville, what frightens you most of all?"

"Professor Snape."

"Professor Snape. Yes, frightens all. And I believe you live with your grandmother?"

"Yes, but I don't want the boggart to turn into her either!"

"No, it won't. I want you to picture her clothes. Only her clothes, very clearly in your mind." Neville started describing them, but Lupin interrupted, saying "We don't need to hear. As long as you see it, we'll see it. Now, when I open that wardrobe, here's what I want you to do." He then leaned in and whispered something into Neville's ear. Lupin then turned to the wardrobe, called out "Wand at the ready," and unlocked the door. The boggart-Snape walked out of the wardrobe, but Neville quickly called out _Riddikulus!_ and boggart-Snape quickly ended up in a green dress and vulture-covered hat and carrying a red handbag. Everyone burst out laughing at the image (none louder than Neville, glad to finally get some kind of revenge on the greasy-haired git,) and Lupin got them all into a line, letting the next person face the boggart. Ron quickly decided on how to face his boggart, while Nico and Harry panicked. Nico briefly thought that his mother and her family was his greatest fear, but then his thoughts turned to the Dementor. What could he possibly fear more than that? His thoughts were interrupted by a burst of laughter as Padma's snake became a large jack-in-the-box. Nico turned back to the problem at hand, trying to think of how to make a bloody _Dementor_ less frightening, let alone _funny_.

Inspiration hit him as Lupin turned on a record and Ron put roller-skates on his Acromantula. When Lupin called him up, the boggart immediately changed to a Dementor and turned to attack Nico. But a quick _Riddikulus_ and the boggart-Dementor quickly gained a grass skirt and a flower necklace and started dancing the hula. Everyone burst into laughter at seeing the dreaded Azkaban guard doing the famous Hawaiian dance. Then Harry stepped forward to face the boggart, but Lupin jumped between them, and the boggart turned into a partial view of the night sky, with the full moon in plain view. Lupin said the incantation almost lazily and it quickly turned into a balloon and retreated into an open trunk. Lupin quickly gave five points to everyone who faced the boggart as well as five to Mione, Harry and Dean for answering his questions.

Nico was the only one with a class after Defence, and it was the one he'd been most looking forward to: Wandlore. To his surprise, there were only seven other people there, and they were made up of people from all three of the other houses. From Slytherin there was: Theodore 'Theo' Nott, Daphne Greengrass and his cousin Draco; from Hufflepuff: Justin, Hannah Abbot, and Susan Bones; and from Ravenclaw: Anthony Goldstein, Padma Patil, Terry Boot and Michael Corner. Professor Evan Tudor quickly came in and gave his opening speech. "I am glad to see so many of you interested in the difficult yet fascinating subject of Wandlore." The handful of students all stared at him in shock, what on Earth did he mean so many? Professor Tudor saw their shocked looks and immediately explained. "I can understand your confusion, so let me explain. Because Wandlore is said to be such a difficult subject, it is very difficult for me to have enough students to keep this class available. Luckily I managed to convince Dumbledore that so long as I have five students start each year, this class should stay open. Now, this year, I will be teaching you about the different woods and cores that can make up a wand, how they react with each other, and what they can teach us about it's user." The lesson quickly passed as they learned about the twelve most common woods used for wands: birch, rowan, ash, alder, willow, hawthorn, oak, holly, hazel, vine, ivy, reed and elder. By the end of the lesson, all eight were wondering why the class was so often described as one of the hardest in the school. Then on Friday, Harry received word that someone was willing to come to Hogwarts and render the basilisk the next month.

**A/N:** I know I didn't cover the meaning of 9 when it comes to Vibrational numbers, so here it is. It represents the attainment of satisfaction, accomplishment and success. It deals with intellectual power, inventiveness and influence over situations and things as well as the ability to make a positive influence over others. Nines are determined individuals that work tirelessly to achieve their goals. They can be arrogant and conceited. Oh, and I must credit Faye-the-book-wolf and his/her story _Lily and the Marauders Read Book Three_ for the idea on what to do to a Boggart-Dementor. Thank you Alice Smith! PLEASE let me know what you think of my version of Draco Malfoy! And one quick question for those who know: how do squibs work into the traditional measure for blood purity?


	4. Sirius Trouble

**A/N:** Just to repeat myself, I do not own anything in this that you recognize. Harry Potter and company belong to J K Rowling and Warner Bros. Also, I make clear references to the BBC show _Merlin_, specifically the circumstances of Nimueh's death and the treatment of magic users under the rule of Uther and why he did so. The riddles, well, who knows where they originated. I do own Nico Grace and this version of the origin of the Dementors. Oh, and I have recently discovered (thanks to Pottermore) that the Magical World uses the Imperial/US measuring system, but I'm keeping it in metric for this story.

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Four: Sirius Trouble**

That first Saturday back, while most of his friends were in the Room of Requirement working on their Animagus transformations, Nico was taking his weekly jog around Hogwarts. He knew it could be dangerous, but he figured as long as he had his wand, he'd be safe from the Dementors. Besides, if it wasn't for these walks, he wouldn't have met the now Second Year Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood. Boy, was she an odd one, but he loved that. After all, what was life without a little . . . eccentricity? He resolved to help her out with her little problem concerning her fellow Claws stealing her things and picking on her. The fact that one of the bullies was Penelope Clearwater, Percy's girlfriend, just made it all the sweeter, and guaranteed that the twins would help him out. That day though, he learned just how wrong he was about the Dementors. He had just passed the Whomping Willow when they descended upon him. Nico immediately recognized the signs and started shooting spells at the five Dementors, but nothing worked, and he collapsed under the weight of the memories.

From the base of the Whomping Willow, a large black dog watched the tall redhead. He knew that the Dementors wouldn't stop until they had Kissed the boy, but he didn't know how he could help, especially considering that he didn't have a wand. However, when the boy collapsed, he dropped his wand and it rolled almost to the Willow. The dog quickly ran out, changed back to his human form and, focusing on one of the few purely happy memories he still had, cast a spell that chased the Dementors away. Once they were gone, the Animagus picked the boy up and carried him down the secret passage to the Shrieking Shack.

Once they were inside, the man lay the boy down on the bed and went to retrieve a large bar of chocolate from the secret stash he and his best friends had kept underneath the floorboards. He took a bite of the chocolate and studied the boy he had rescued. He was tall, for a third year (assuming he _was_ a third year, he could easily pass for a fourth or even fifth,) and his spiky strawberry blonde hair was something that seemed somewhat familiar. He had a thin, pointed face (one that was all too familiar,) yet also the aristocratic features that were so common among the Ancient and Noble Houses. He also wore a Gryffindor crest. Maybe he knew Harry! Maybe he'd be able to convince the boy of his innocence and catch the rat he so hated . . . and possibly get some decent food and clothes as well? Within a few minutes, the boy woke up, and the first thing that hit him were the eyes. The man had _never _seen such eyes except when his best friend had gotten angry with him for a mistake he made in Sixth Year. "You . . . you're Sirius Black, aren't you? And you saved me?"

"Yes, to both of your questions." Sirius really hoped the kid wouldn't be too scared to not listen. He knew that he could scare people. Even without his reputation, he currently looked like a vampire and his voice was scratchy from more than a decade of little to no use. "Just to keep things fair, what's your name?"

"Nico, Nico Grace." Ah, that would explain why he looked so familiar. This was Eric's son, the son of one of his brothers, Nico was his other godson. It also explained why he looked so much like his cousin-in-law, Lucy. "Why did you save me?"

"Because no kid should be subjected to Dementors. So, considering that you're a Gryffindor, does that mean you know Harry?"

"Whoa, you mean that the Ministry actually got something _right?_ You _are_ after Harry?"

"What? No, no. I'm here to _protect_ Harry! I need to kill the rat responsible for the death of Lily and James! The rat responsible for me getting thrown into Azkaban without a bloody trial in the first place!"

"Well then, I guess you won't mind showing me your forearm then." Sirius was a little confused at first, but then realized that he was making sure that he was making sure that he didn't have the Dark Mark, a sure sign of a Death Eater. Sirius then gladly pulled up both of his sleeves, and sure enough, they were clear. "So, dad guessed right. You weren't the Secret Keeper. Peter Pettigrew was."

"Eric's told you about me? He thinks I'm innocent? Where is he? Can I talk to him?"

Nico paled at the mention of his father. "Dad's been dead for a little over a year now, Sirius. He was killed spring before last by Quirrelmort."

Sirius was confused. "Quirrelmort? What do you mean, Quirrelmort?" Nico shook his head and told Sirius about the events of their first year at Hogwarts, including the fact that Harry could have been sorted into Slytherin. Sirius took it surprisingly well. "Eh, so he could have been a Snake, so what? He's still my godson, we were close enough that he could actually _be_ my son. You know, the first person Harry called 'Dada' wasn't James, but me?" Nico laughed at that. And by the time an hour had passed after that, Nico had been completely won over by Sirius, and promised to bring him food every weekend, as well as some decent clothes. He also made a silent promise to keep following his dad's advice and find something that could _prove_ Sirius' innocence.

* * *

><p>Over the next two months, Defence quickly became everyone's favourite class (except for the one time that Snape taught it in October,) and Hagrid quickly became known as a unique but fun teacher, covering fairies, ghouls and gnomes as well as finishing up with the hippogriffs in the first two months. Fortunately, he also promised to stay far away from pixies. When they weren't working on homework, Harry, Neville and Ron were trying to master their Animagus transformation, and Nico did some serious research on Sirius (pun intended!) Oddly though, Ron seemed to be starting to distance himself from Harry, especially when Harry started regaining his old work habits. With Cedric's help, Nico managed to meet Susan Bones and have her write her aunt, Amelia Bones (Head of the DMLE) for the transcript of Sirius' trial. In the meantime, on September 15 he sneaked into Dumbledore's office to talk to the Sorting Hat. "Bee in <em>your <em>bonnet now, Grace?"

"Actually, I was hoping to talk to you about why you put certain people in the Houses you did."

"Very well, Grace. Who do you want to talk about?"

"First, call me Nico. Second, let's start out with Harry. Why did you say he'd do well in Slytherin?"

"Mr Potter is cunning enough for Slytherin, but that isn't the reason I argued for Slytherin."

"Then why?"

"I argued for Slytherin because he said he didn't want to be in Slytherin. I was made to sort people into the House I think is best for them, and I hate being told what to do. That's something I actually got from both Godric and Salazar. Neither of them liked being told what to do. In any case, with Mr Potter, I was always going to either put him in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. He had the potential for Ravenclaw, but his past wouldn't let him, and he wouldn't last too long in Slytherin, not with all the Death Eater sympathizers in there. Your cousin might have been able to help him, but those two had obviously started a rivalry by then. Ah, if only I could have gotten them to talk to each other, but Mr Potter was too stubborn."

That actually made a lot of sense to Nico. Harry was clearly brave and noble enough to fit in Gryffindor, yet loyal and hard-working like Cedric. That last part though, very surprising. Harry and Draco could have been allies, even friends in Slytherin? Shocking. "Alright, what about Percy Weasley?"

"Ah, him. I was going to send him straight to Slytherin, but he refused to let me put him in the House he belonged in. Everything about him screamed Slytherin: his attitude, his mind, his actions, even his wand screamed Slytherin, but he insisted on going to Gryffindor with his brothers. His youngest brother was much the same, as was your mother."

"What's his wand made of, Hat?"

"My name is not 'Hat'! It's Alistair! And assuming you mean Mr Percy Weasley, his wand is made of birch and dragon heartstring, why?"

"Just curious." Nico would have to look those parts up in his _Encyclopaedia of Wand Parts_ later. "What about Hermione? Why isn't she in Ravenclaw?"

"For the same reason as you, Nico: her heart outweighs her head."

"Alright, last one: Sirius Black."

"Ah, Sirius. Now _him_ I liked! He was always coming up here with James Potter, Remus Lupin and your father. Occasionally they'd be up here with your mother and Peter Pettigrew, and even Lily Evans after their Fifth Year. But Sirius I liked because he would often talk to me. I must say that there are very few people that were more properly placed than Sirius Black."

"So, what do you think of what Sirius has been charged with? Betraying Lily and James Potter to Tom Riddle and then killing a dozen Muggles and Pettigrew?"

"Impossible! Sirius could have no more betrayed James and Lily than it could snow in the Sahara! They were brothers! James even managed to talk his parents into blood adopting Sirius into the family after Sirius ran away in his Sixth Year! No, if there was a traitor in that group of friends, it was Peter Pettigrew. I couldn't figure out where to place him. He was too cowardly for Gryffindor or Slytherin, too dull for Ravenclaw, and willing to betray anyone, thus eliminating Hufflepuff. I just let him pick his house! Last time I _ever_ do that! I must say that I was not surprised when Sirius told me that he was a dog Animagus and Pettigrew was a rat." Pettigrew was a rat Animagus? Well now, that was useful information.

* * *

><p>Well, Alistair had been very helpful in confirming part of Sirius' tale, and it clearly believed him to be innocent. Unfortunately for Sirius, there was nothing that Nico could do to prove his innocence until he heard back from Madame Bones. So that left only one thing that he could work on besides homework: finding out how to defend himself from Dementors. Obviously there was one, since both Moony and Padfoot knew it, the question was how to find it and learn it. When he went to Madame Pince, she said that all books in the library about Dementors were in the Restricted Section, and it was doubtful that a teacher would allow him in there. So that left only one place that he knew about to find books about them.<p>

But what was the fun of going to a place he knew existed instead of finding another hidden room in the castle? If Salazar Slytherin had built a secret chamber in the school, why couldn't any of the other founders have done the same thing? Couldn't there be a secret library built by Rowena Ravenclaw somewhere in the castle? So Nico set out to find the nearest Ravenclaw and pulled out what appeared to be a spare bit of old parchment. He pulled out his wand and tapped the parchment with it saying "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The parchment immediately changed into a 3D map of the school with labels for everyone. "Show me all Ravenclaws," Nico spoke to the parchment, and immediately all the Claws glowed in blue and bronze, and the nearest one was Luna. Well, this should be interesting, if for no other reason than if anyone would believe in the library, it was her.

When he found the blonde, Luna immediately sensed him and asked "Hello Nico, are the wrackspurts giving you trouble?"

"No, Luna, they aren't." Nico had learned soon after meeting her that you should just accept that Luna's creatures are real when talking to her, no matter what your actual feelings were. If she mentioned one, all you could really do is smile and nod. Personally he thought that it was at least possible that they existed and he couldn't prove her wrong, so why argue? "I was actually hoping that you could help me find something."

"Oh, so it's nargles that you're having trouble with?"

Nico laughed. "No, this isn't something that nargles could steal. I'm hoping that you could help me find a hidden room in the castle. That is, assuming it actually exists. Tell me, has anyone in Ravenclaw ever mentioned a secret library that belonged to Rowena?"

"Oh, yes. Rowena's library is well known to all of us, and every Ravenclaw knows where it is. We're shown where it is by the end of our second month in hopes that one can get inside. Unfortunately, all of us have failed to solve the riddle that opens it. Come along and I'll show it to you." The blonde Ravenclaw led him into a section of the castle that was shown on the map, but hardly labelled at all. She then stopped in front of what appeared to be nothing more than a blank wall. "I come in seek of Ravenclaw's knowledge." The wall opened up and revealed a door with an eagle head knocker. The eagle opened it's mouth and said:

_My voice is tender_

_My waist is slender_

_And I'm often invited over to play_

_Yet wherever I go_

_I must take my bow_

_Or else I have nothing to say_

_What am I?_

Nico stopped at that, turned to Luna and asked "_That's_ the riddle that has all of you Claws stumped? I can't believe it! That is the _easiest_ riddle I've ever heard." He then reached into his cloak and pulled out his violin and started to play a tender tune. "What could the answer be, but a violin?"

The door opened to reveal a long corridor beyond. "It takes three riddles to reveal the library, we think. The first riddle is always quite easy, but none have passed the second." The next door also had an eagle head knocker. This one said: _There once was an evil wizard. He took 3 women from their homes and turned them into rose bushes that looked exactly alike. He put them in his garden. One of the women had a husband and children who begged the wizard to let her see them. He agreed. At night, he brought the woman to her house. In the morning he came and took her home. One day the husband decided to go rescue her. So he snuck into the wizard's garden. He looked and looked at the 3 identical rose bushes trying to figure out which could be his wife. Suddenly, he knew the answer and he took his wife home. How did he know which rose bush was his wife? _

That one had Nico stumped for about fifteen minutes, until he hit on the answer. "His wife was the only one without any dew on it."

"How did you figure that out? The wrackspurts seem to love this corridor."

"Easy, Luna. The wizard brought the wife to him at night and brought her back in the morning. Dew falls during the night, so the husband would go early enough that there would still be dew on the other two bushes. Let's hear the next riddle."

For that, they went into the library itself, where a portrait of Rowena Ravenclaw herself waited for them, but not a single book. "Congratulations, my dears. No one has ever come this far in many years. However, there is still one more riddle you must answer before you can browse my library.

_What does man love more than life?_

_Fear more than death or mortal strife?_

_What do the poor have, what do the rich require,_

_And what contented men desire?_

_What does the miser spend, the spendthrift save,_

_And all men carry to their graves?"_

"Well, thanks to Tom Riddle and Ebenezer Scrooge, I know what it is. The answer is _nothing_." With that last word, Rowena nodded and the shelves filled with hundreds, thousands of books. "Rowena, do you have any books on Dementors?"

If it's possible for a portrait to pale, than Rowena definitely did at that question. However, she did answer, "The only book I have on Dementors is the small, blue book on the bookcase next to the door. Middle shelf, it has the Hogwarts crest on it." Curious, Nico grabbed the indicated book, while Luna started browsing. What he found was a book that could only be found in this one library: the diary of Rowena Ravenclaw. Nico stared at her portrait in shock before reading. Inside was the tale of how the Founders met and decided to build a school for young wizards and witches, the building of Hogwarts, the selection of the first students, the first classes. But a few decades into the tale of Hogwarts' origin, another one emerged of desperation and fear of loss. Rowena had a friend called Nimueh who was a priestess within the old Celtic religion and after she was killed on the Isle of the Blessed, Rowena wished to raise her from the dead so that they could bring her in as a teacher, and Salazar Slytherin had studied necromancy, so she asked him to bring her back. Salazar told her that no magic could bring someone back from the dead without killing someone else, but Rowena was desperate for the knowledge Nimueh held, and she eventually aggressively negotiated Salazar into trying (i.e. she forced him to take a magical oath and duelled him into submission.) The diary told of their failure.

_Salazar's spell reawakened Nimueh's body, but she wasn't there. I decided to wait a few days and see if she recognized me then. It was my biggest mistake. The body quickly decayed, the eyes sealed over and the skin turned black. Within a week, the change had been completed and Nimueh was no more, replaced by a soulless creature that Salazar later named 'Dementor.' The day that the change was completed, Nimueh kissed a First Year student, young Julius Slytherin-Salazar's youngest son, and took his soul! A week later, and the boy had also become a Dementor. The two flew off and continued to kiss people. If the kissed person was magical, then he became a Dementor within a week. If it was a Muggle, he would live out his days living like he were a plant. But even people who were only near the Dementors were affected, as the Dementors forced them to relive their worst memories, and the air turns cold as if all the happiness had gone from the world. Fortunately, Helga and Salazar created a charm that would protect us from the spreading Dementors. They called it the Patronus Charm. After that, Salazar declared that he couldn't stand to be around me anymore, not after what I'd done. He built himself a large chamber somewhere beneath the school and hid it behind a spell cast in Parseltongue. He claimed that should Hogwarts ever be attacked, he had hidden a defence in the chamber that he and his heirs could control. He then left the school in search of more students. That chamber of secrets and the Sorting Hat are his only legacy left here._

No way! Rowena Ravenclaw was responsible for the Dementors creation, and Salazar Slytherin helped create the only defence against them? The school would be turned on its head if they found out! Nico was about to head out when Rowena stopped him. "Before you leave, young lion, you may pick a password that will open the library to you whenever you wish to return." Nico thought for a while before finally deciding on _Redemption_ in honor of his plan to save Sirius and the truce with his cousin.

* * *

><p>The next day, October 13, Nico stayed behind after Charms in order to talk to Professor Flitwick, the short, half-goblin head of Ravenclaw House. "Professor, I believe that I've found something that should be delivered to you."<p>

"Oh, and what is that, Mr Grace?" Nico handed him the diary and let the black haired Charms master read it himself. He took the book, confused by what he held, and then opened it. As he read the book, his eyes widened as he realized what he was reading. Once he finished, he turned to Nico and asked "Mr Grace, Nico, where did you find this?"

"Inside Rowena's library, Professor."

"You got inside the library? Tell me, how did you get in?" Nico told the tale, and Flitwick started at him in shock. "Nico, is there anything I can do to get you to part with this book?"

"Actually, there is Professor. All I ask is that you teach me one Charm."

"Anything, Nico, anything at all. Which one is it?"

"The one Charm mentioned in that book: the Patronus."

"Hmm, the Patronus? That will be a difficult one to teach, but I think you could do it. The question is, can you take on extra lessons on top of your normal classwork? I happen to know that you have the highest class load, other than Ms Granger, but that won't excuse you from failing any of these lessons. If you do, I will stop the lessons and you will have to give up until you find another teacher."

In response, Nico had just one thing to say before leaving for Alchemy, "I can't."

* * *

><p>The next weekend, Leo Scamander, nephew of the author Newt Scamander, arrived at Hogwarts to render Salazar's basilisk. "Greetings, Professor Dumbledore. Do you know where I might find Mr Potter or Mr Grace? I've been hired by them recently, and I need to get to work."<p>

Dumbledore stared at him in barely concealed shock. Why would Harry or Mr Grace need someone like Leon Scamander? "Mr Potter is probably on the Quidditch pitch practicing with his team. I'm unsure as to the current location of Mr Grace. However, I am curious as to why they would need you. Do you know why they hired you?"

"Unfortunately no. Their ad just said that they needed a very large rendering job done at Hogwarts and they would pay the renderer out of the proceeds of the job. Now, if you don't mind, I'm off to find them." Dumbledore frowned at that. Why would they need a rendering job done at Hogwarts, and why didn't he know about it? Within an hour, Scamander had found both boys and he asked them "So boys, what's the job you've got for me?" Neither answered as they led him to Myrtle's bathroom, much to the confusion of Leon. "You boys do realize this is a girls bathroom, right?" They both answered in the affirmative, while Harry hissed the opening phrase to the sink, and it opened up. Scamander stared at him in shock, even more so when, after a second hiss, stairs appeared in the pipe.

Just before they were about to go down, a voice called from the doorway. "Mr Potter, Mr Grace, boys are not allowed in the girls lavatory. Ten points from Gryffindor, from the both of you."

Harry didn't even turn to look at their guest. "Welcome, Professor Snape. Would you mind coming down with us? We may need your help to get into the Chamber, and seeing as how we were going to let you have your pick of the parts, you might as well come now." Snape raised an eyebrow, but his curiosity got the better of him and he followed. Nico was a little surprised that he came. Ever since the Boggart lesson, Snape had gotten a lot worse in class, especially towards Neville. Fortunately Nico and Moony had helped with his fear and his potion grade had actually improved since then.

When they reached the site of the cave-in that was caused by Lockhart's attempt to wipe Harry and Ron's memories, Scamander shot back at the sight of the basilisk skin. "A basilisk! Are you telling me that you're having me render a twenty-meter (sixty-foot) basilisk?" The boys both shook their heads 'no.' "Well, that's a relief." Harry and Nico shook with laughter while the two men cleared away the debris. Snape and Scamander were extremely confused by their actions, until they entered the actual Chamber of Secrets. They stared in shock at the enormous corpse before them. "I thought you said I wouldn't be rendering a basilisk!"

"No, you asked if you'd be rendering a twenty-meter basilisk, and you're not. This one is probably a good 75 meters long," Harry replied with a Draco-worthy smirk. Leon just shook his head in amusement and went to work, starting by removing the deadly foot-long fangs. Snape just stared at the basilisk in shock, but he was shocked even more when he heard Harry say "Once you're finished, let Professor Snape take whatever he wants for potion ingredients." Nico then whispered something to Harry, which had him hissing in Parseltongue again, causing the slightly damaged bust of Salazar Slytherin to open his mouth.

Harry and Nico then went inside the bust, where they found a veritable treasure trove. Inside the bust was an old potions lab and a small library, much of which was devoted to potions and duelling. And like Rowena's library it had a small book with the Hogwarts crest, though this one was green. Nico immediately grabbed it and started reading what was obviously Salazar's private journal. The journal was very similar to Rowena's, and also made it clear that the only reason Salazar supported blood purity was because he didn't trust Muggles, not because he believed that purebloods were better than other magicians. Salazar himself was a half-blood with a Muggleborn mother. Salazar also made it clear that the basilisk was there to protect the school in case of an attack by Muggle kings, especially one King Uther of Camelot, who had been hunting any and all magic users in his kingdom since the birth of Arthur and subsequent death of his wife Igraine. Harry and Nico quickly pulled out every book, shrunk them, and carried them out, delivering the potion books to Snape and taking the duelling books for themselves.

* * *

><p>It took the rest of the weekend and the entire next weekend for Scamander to render the basilisk. After Snape took his portion of the basilisk and Nico claimed a portion of the skin, Slytherin's basilisk was auctioned off for 5,000,000 galleons. Harry and Nico then sent 2,500,000 galleons of that to Gringott's into five separate vaults for the people who had been hurt by the events of the previous year (Justin, Colin Creevey, Ginny, Hermione and Penelope, each getting 500,000 galleons each) while the rest was divided between Harry and Nico. They let the five know of their newfound wealth via the morning mail, which included a statement and their new vault key. Most of them attempted to refuse the money, but Harry insisted on them keeping it. The rest of the week was peaceful, until Halloween night. For the first time since starting Hogwarts, Harry and his friends all managed to make it through the feast without anything distracting them or causing trouble. (Well, except for the 96 pixies that Nico had Peeves release during the feast.) After the feast was a different story. Right after Nico delivered an essay on Patroni to Flitwick in preparation of his lessons, Dumbledore's voice echoed throughout the school, saying <em>"All students report to the Great Hall immediately."<em>

As soon as Neville and Harry showed up, Nico asked them what had happened. Harry replied "Well, apparently Sirius Black attempted to get inside Gryffindor Tower. When the Fat Lady wouldn't let him in, he slashed at her portrait." At those words, the temperature in the Great Hall dropped ten degrees.


	5. Meetings

**A/N:** Thanks to DariaSilver and her story _The Portrait_ for putting me onto the idea of Ancient Runes being connected to Harry's scar, I just never expected what I found! It is positively shocking how important that idea is, as it explains the mystery of how Harry did not become the next Voldemort. Also, I mention Harry's great-grandparents. Remember that information, it WILL be important later on in the series. And I use the fanon information of Dorea Black and Charlus Potter being Harry's grandparents. To those who object to that because they had their kid at a late age, 50 or 60 is fairly late to have kids, and magicals live longer than us Muggles, so who knows when they can't have kids any more? According to the _Daily Prophet_ article in the film version of CoS, Armando Dippet died sometime after his 350th birthday. Anyway, slash hints at the end of this chapter-specifically Harry/Cedric.

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Five: Meetings**

That night, Dumbledore had everyone sleep in the Great Hall because of the 'threat' of Sirius Black. Everyone was discussing Sirius, mostly trying to guess how he got into the castle with the Dementors outside. Hannah Abbott came the closest with a guess of being able to turn himself into a flowering shrub. Hermione thought that it was very lucky that Sirius chose to go to Gryffindor Tower on Halloween, the one night of the year that it was completely empty, so Ron suggested that he had lost track of time, while Neville suggested that he was actually after something that was in the tower and not a student. Late that night, the five friends overheard Dumbledore and Snape discussing Sirius. Snape suggested that Sirius got inside the school with help from inside, clearly talking about Professor Lupin.

Fortunately, Dumbledore trusted Lupin, saying "Not a single professor inside this castle would help Sirius Black to enter it. No, I'm quite convinced the castle is safe and I'm more than willing to send the students back to their dorms."

Snape wasn't finished though. "What about Potter? Should he be warned?"

"Perhaps. But for now, let him sleep. For in dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own. Let them swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud."

* * *

><p>Amelia Bones, Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement dropped the letter in shock. Sirius could be innocent? She had hoped and prayed for the possibility, but never dreamed that they'd be answered. Amelia immediately went to check on the truth suggested by Nico Grace and look at the transcripts of Sirius' trial. If Nico's suspicions were right, however, their dreams might still become a reality, and she could give Susan a second father, and maybe even some siblings as well.<p>

* * *

><p>The next day was their first Hogsmeade weekend, and both Neville and Nico were a little nervous. Neville had revealed that his grandmother, the feared and respected Augusta Longbottom, was waiting for them inside the Hog's Head tavern. Unfortunately, Harry was unable to go to Hogsmeade with them as the inflation of Marge Dursley had kept him from getting his permission slip signed. He had gone to Professor McGonagall to ask her to sign it, but she had refused. "While I have the power to sign it, Mr Potter, I will not. Under normal circumstances, I would, but because of Sirius Black, I am afraid that I could be sending you to your death." While Harry hated it, he had to agree with McGonagall and reluctantly agreed. "Oh, Mr Potter? Would you mind meeting me in my office sometime today? I need to talk to you about a few things." Surprised, Harry quickly agreed to meet her as soon as the rest of the older students had left for Hogsmeade.<p>

When Nico and Neville arrived at the Hog's Head, they easily spotted the intimidating witch thanks to her distinctive hat. Once they had sat down at a table and ordered their drinks, Madame Longbottom turned to Nico and asked "So, you're the boy that sent me a Howler?" Nico simply nodded. "May I ask why?" Nico mumbled an answer, so she exclaimed "Speak up, boy!" "Because of what you did to Neville!" Nico shouted. Augusta reared back in shock while Neville braced himself for the oncoming storm. Between his Gran and his best friend's tempers, there was sure to be an explosion, and the only question is how much of Hogsmeade would be left standing when the storm had passed. "Even if he didn't do much accidental magic, it doesn't give you the right to risk his life to push it to the surface!"

"What gives you the right to tell me what to do or not to do in my home?!"

"The right of a friend looking out for his friend's life! In your attempts to force magic our of him, you nearly drowned him and dropped him out a third-story window! Either of those could have killed Nev if he had been a Squib! What gives _you_ the right to risk _his _life?"

Neville was prepared to duck, as he _knew_ without a shadow of a doubt that the storm was about to hit. However what happened next made Neville decide that no matter his grade, he was going to drop Divination at the end of the year: Augusta Longbottom _laughed!_ She actually laughed! Neville didn't even know that she _could_ laugh! "I like you, Mr Grace, despite your heritage."

"If you mean, despite the fact that I'm a half-blood, than this meeting is over!"

"I actually meant despite the fact that you're a Malfoy." Nico turned to glare at Neville, believing that he had revealed his heritage, despite the fact that he had asked him to keep quiet. Reading his face easily, Madame Longbottom continued "You remind me greatly of your grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy, an old classmate of mine. Is my grandson aware of your heritage?"

"Yeah, I told him this summer. What were you saying before I so rudely interrupted, Madame Longbottom?"

"I was saying that I like you. You obviously stand up for what you believe in and you are obviously friends with my grandson for him, not because you're one of those blood purists. If you were willing to stand up to me for Neville, than I believe that you'd stand up to anyone."

"Ma'am, I'd go up against the Ministry, Dumbledore _and_ Voldemort and his Death Eaters for Neville. I would gladly do anything for him, no matter what the possible consequences." Augusta smiled at him. This boy was definitely a good influence on Neville, and if she was reading things right, he would be a good addition to the family when the time came. It just hurt that the Longbottom name would end with her grandson. "Hey, since we're apparently on good terms now, would you mind if I ask a somewhat personal question?" Augusta allowed him to ask, but reserved the right to refuse to answer. Nico hesitated, before finally blurting out "Why do you wear that crazy hat?"

To the boys surprise, she burst out laughing and took off the hat. "I have been waiting for someone to ask that question for nigh on sixty years! While I was still at school, I made a bet with your grandfather about whether or not Charlus Potter would get together with Dorea Black. If I lost, I had to wear that hat until someone asked why, while if Abraxas lost, he would have to have to date a Muggleborn Gryffindor for at least a year. As a traditional pureblood Slytherin, it would have been extremely upsetting and humiliating for him, while my punishment was simply humiliating and long-lasting."

"Why _did_ you bet against him, Gran?"

"Because it was a well known fact that Potters always went for either a redhead or the brightest Muggleborn witch in Hogwarts, and preferably one that was both. Dorea was neither, so naturally I bet against her. Dorea's family was against the pairing as well, as Charlus was a half-blood. His father, Boniface was a pureblood, but his wife Anya was a Muggle, or at least from a squib line. I was definitely surprised when Charlus actually _married_ her the week after we left Hogwarts! Unfortunately, they didn't have any children until James nearly thirty years later."

"Okay, here's another one: do you happen to know Delores Umbridge?"

"Know her? I've been using our seat in the Wizengamot to fight most of her laws!" The conversation flowed smoothly once it got past politics, with Augusta and Nico quickly growing to like each other. By the time the boys had to leave, Nico had received an invitation to Longbottom Manor for the summer. They were about to separate when Nico remembered something. "Madame Longbottom, why is it that Neville isn't wearing the Longbottom crest on his uniform?"

"Hmm? Oh, the crest? Well, to be honest, I didn't know about it until just recently. My husband Octavian was the one that took Frank to Diagon Alley, so I only found out when Amelia Bones mentioned it. But don't you worry, I'll be taking care of that over Christmas break."

After she left, Nico quickly bought a case of butterbeer before they headed out. Neville started back towards the carriages, but stopped when he noticed Nico wasn't following him. "Aren't you coming?"

"Nah, I think I'm going to stretch my wings a little. Go on ahead, and tell McGonagall that I Flooed to the tower, alright?" Reluctantly, Neville went to the carriages, knowing that there was little he could do to convince Nico to forgo his plan. He was just looking forward to the time when they could explore the Forest together. Neville was sure that he was only a few months away from becoming a cougar completely.

Once Nico had gotten far enough into the Dark Forest, he changed to Goldie and flew to his usual meeting place with Sirius. Fortunately, he was already there, and Goldie started tearing into him. "OW! Nico, what the hell? OW! What's all this for? OW!"

"You stupid mutt! What did you think you were doing, trying to get into Gryffindor Tower? I _told you_ that _I_ would catch the rat! And even if I hadn't, did you _have_ to attack the Fat Lady? Don't you know how this looks now? _EVERYONE_ is even more convinced that you're _guilty_! We've got that mad knight, Sir Cadogan as our guardian now!"

"I'm sorry! I don't know what I was thinking when I attacked the Fat Lady. Maybe Azkaban got to me more than I thought. But trust me when I say I didn't mean to attack her!"

"Fine, I'll let it go, this time. But if you try _anything_ like this again, I _swear_ I'll leave you for the Dementors, whether you are innocent or not!" Once he calmed down, Nico gave him half of the butterbeer that he had bought and started thinking. "Next time I come, I'll probably be bringing Madame Pomfrey and see if she can help with the mind healing." Seeing Sirius' pale expression, he laughed and continued. "I know she's a nut about the Hospital Wing, but you need help, Pads. If you don't get help, you'll never get permission to be Harry's guardian."

Sirius reluctantly conceded the point, and changed the subject to Quidditch. When he found out that the next game was only a week away, he immediately decided to go as Padfoot. Then he heard something that shocked him. "What do you mean the first game is Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor? The first game has _always_ been Gryffindor vs. Slytherin!"

"According to Slytherin's Quidditch captain, Marcus Flint, their seeker can't play due to injured ribs. I know that its rubbish though. Draco's ribs are perfectly fine. Heck, if I know my cousin, he's probably complaining about the fact that he can't play against Harry. Oh well, at least he'll probably be able to play in _good_ weather." Nico looked up at the sky and shook his head. "Harry will probably be playing in the middle of a storm with his luck. Speaking of which, what are you doing for shelter?"

"I'm staying in the Shrieking Shack, so you don't have to worry about shelter. Just keep bringing me food, and Madame Pomfrey, if you insist."

* * *

><p>Back at Hogwarts, Harry was waiting for McGonagall in her office as she came back from the main entrance. She sat down, poured them some tea, and started talking. "Mr Potter, I asked you here to apologize for my actions over the past two years, and explain why I acted the way I did. I should have done more to protect you from the rumours last year, but I was too terrified of the creature to do more. You see, I was here as a student the last time the Heir of Slytherin stuck, and several of my friends were petrified by the monster. Also, I want to apologize for overreacting with your punishment for being in the Astronomy Tower. I had a flashback to when your father and his friends were students and thought I could discourage anything like that by an extreme punishment."<p>

"Professor, I can understand that, especially since Nico gave me his dad's journal. But why didn't you listen to us about the Philosopher's Stone? Why the detention in the Dark Forest? Why did you want us to find what was killing the unicorns?"

"_That _is what Hagrid wanted you for? I just knew that he wanted to supervise your detention, not what he wanted you to do! If he hadn't asked, I would have given you a detention with Severus, Aurora, or Argus. As for the Stone, I honestly believed that the protections were strong enough to keep most people out. We were all shocked when we found out that most of the protections had been changed."

"CHANGED? What do you mean, _changed_ Professor?"

"We set up certain protections at the beginning of the school year, and of those, only Hagrid's, Quirrel's and mine were the same at the end of the year, all that had been changed were far simpler to beat than they had been. Even if they hadn't, I should have listened to you, I just couldn't believe that someone was going to try to steal it from Hogwarts. Again, I'm sorry, and I want you to know that I will try and make up for my mistakes in the future."

Harry left the meeting more trusting of his Head of House. A few minutes after that, Harry encountered Remus on the covered bridge. "Professor, can I ask you something?"

"You want to know why I stopped you from facing that boggart, yes? I would have thought it would be obvious. I assumed it would take the shape of Lord Voldemort. Not something I want the students to see in class."

"I did think of Voldemort, at first. But then I remembered that night on the train, and the Dementor."

"Hmm, interesting, and impressive. That suggests that what you and Nico fear the most is fear itself. This is very wise."

"I am a little surprised about Nico. I'd have assumed it would take the shape of his mother. She seems nearly as bad as the Dursleys."

Remus was confused at that. "Who are the Dursleys, Harry?"

"The Muggles that I live with, my Aunt Petunia and her family."

"Dumbledore sent you to Petunia? Merlin, what was he thinking?" At Harry's confused look, he explained. "I met your aunt and both of your uncles at Petunia's wedding. All three were some of the worst Muggles I had ever met, completely terrified of anything 'abnormal,' and anything they feared, they hated."

"Sounds like them alright, but what did you mean, _both _of my uncles?"

"Lily had two siblings, Petunia and Richard. Richard Evans was their older brother, and a bit of a playboy, even more so than . . ."

"More than Sirius Black?" That was the only name that Harry knew of that could cause Remus to pause like that.

"Yes, Black. I still don't know how he fooled us for so long. He was one of the worst liars I had ever known, and absolutely dedicated to seeing justice served, probably why he attracted Amelia Bones after we graduated and they joined the Auror Corps."

"Sirius and my dad? They were Aurors?"

"Don't you know anything about your parents, Harry?"

"No, not much. Most of the information I've gained about them has been from Nico."

"You're very much like your mother, you know that, Harry? Physically you take after James, but your heart is all hers. Lily Evans was there for me at a time when no one else was. Not only was she a singularly gifted witch, she was also an uncommonly kind woman. She had a way of seeing the beauty in others even, and perhaps most especially, when that person could not see it in themselves. And your father, James, on the other hand, he . . . Well, he had a certain, shall we say, talent for trouble. A talent, rumor has it, he passed on to you."

Harry laughed at that. "Not exactly, Professor. While Dad's talent for trouble lay in pranks, my talent seems to be being found by trouble and then taking care of it."

"Well, be that as it may, you're more like them than you know. In time, you'll come to see just how much."

* * *

><p>On Wednesday, Harry caught Draco as they were leaving Ancient Runes, one of only three classes he had with the Slytherin. "Malfoy, wait up! Please."<p>

"What do you want, Potter?" he asked. Despite never hating Harry, Draco was still upset with him for not taking his hand on the train. One of several Malfoy traits was a very stubborn pride that did not take refusals or insults well. Another was holding onto grudges, which made it difficult for them to forgive anyone and made them fairly unpopular.

Harry on the other hand was really hoping that Nico was right or he was in big trouble. "I want to offer you a truce and explain why I didn't take your hand on the train." Harry waited until Draco nodded, giving him the go ahead to explain. "I would have probably taken your hand that day, but you gave me several reasons not too. First, when we were talking at Madame Milkin's, you insulted the man that took me away from my filthy Muggle relatives."

"Hold it! Are you really insulting your relatives for being Muggles? And here I thought you were a Muggle lover."

"No, I am not a Muggle lover, and I _hate _my relatives. Anyway, both there and on the train, you acted a lot like my pampered, spoiled prat of a cousin, talking about bullying your father into buying you a broom and smuggling it into Hogwarts despite it being against the rules. Then you insulted the first person to be genuinely nice to me in my entire life. If you'd been a bit nicer, I probably would have taken your hand. So, what do you say? Do you want to give our relationship a chance for a new beginning? Do you want a truce?"

"Truce, Potter? I'd be willing to take it a step further and say friends, if you'd like." Once again, Draco offered his hand, hope shining in his eyes.

This time, Harry took his hand. "Friends, Draco. Again, I'm sorry for not taking your hand last time."

"I forgive you, Harry. You're right, I _did _act like a spoiled prat in First Year. I wasn't used to interacting with people outside my father's circle and I was trying to impress you. That and Father thought that you were a rising Dark Lord, so he told me to treat you like one of them. And I'm sorry for what I said about your parents, when I'm upset I tend to say hurtful things that I don't really mean. But why did you decide to talk to me after that?"

"I've decided to forgive and forget, let the past stay in the past. This is our chance for a new beginning, and I can't blame you for the way you acted considering your father. Besides, I want to give Slytherins a chance that I never did before, and what better way to do that than giving you a second chance?"

"Thanks, Harry."

"No problem, but I do have a question for you. Why did you say that you wanted Hermione dead last year?"

"I never said that! That was Nott! He's the only one in our year, other than Pansy that really supports the Dark Lord and means it. Vince and Greg are just hired muscle, Blaise and Millie are neutral, while Tracey and Daphne are with me, we would gladly support you so long as you aren't with Dumbledore, and accept your Slytherin side."

"But you said it straight to mine and Ron's faces. You said, and I quote 'But I know one thing: last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's only a matter of time before one of them's killed this time...I hope it's Granger,'"

"Oh, _that_ incident." Harry stared at him in shock, so Draco explained. "I knew it was you as soon as you asked about Azkaban. Even those two know what Azkaban is, and you know how dumb they are! Besides, sometimes I have to say things I don't want to or risk my father's wrath. He expects me to be a good little Death Eater when the Dark Lord returns, but I don't believe in blood supremacy. Granger taught me better in First Year. I swear, Harry, I hate it whenever I have to say the M word."

"Hmm, and what about having Snape as Headmaster?"

"Well, Uncle Sev is my godfather and before I started at Hogwarts, we'd joke that before I graduated, Uncle Sev would be the Headmaster. Why do you think he smiled in response? He knew that it was a reference to the joke and nothing more."

"Okay, that makes sense, but could you explain what you meant about supporting me if I'm not with Dumbledore?"

"Dumbledore is the kind of person that we Slytherins hate: a hypocrite. He's a Slytherin disguised as a Gryffindor, a Dark Lord masquerading as the Leader of the Light. His fame for defeating Grindelwald? They should look into their past, those two used to be friends."

"That's not possible! How could he be a Dark Lord? He's the one who saved me from the Dursleys!"

"Here's a question for you to ask then: Why are you with those Muggles in the first place? Nearly every single wizarding family would have gladly taken you in, including mine. Why weren't you raised by one of them?" Leaving those questions hanging, Draco turned the conversation to something other than politics and the two quickly became close friends. Before they split up for lunch, Draco stopped Harry with a question that surprised him. "Hey, Harry? I don't suppose you know what happened to Dobby, do you?"

Harry decided to play dumb, despite the new friendship he still wasn't sure if he could trust Draco, especially after those questions about Dumbledore. "Dobby? Who's Dobby?"

Draco smiled at the Slytherin move. "Nice try, Harry, but I _know_ that you know who I'm talking about. Dobby told me that he delivered my message to you on your birthday last year."

_That_ shocked Harry to the core. "WHAT? _Your_ message? _You_ were the one trying to keep me out of Hogwarts?"

"Of course. I knew what my father had planned and I was a little worried that he'd use you instead of Weaselette. I asked Dobby to try and keep you out of Hogwarts that year, and I asked him because he pretty much raised me. I will admit that Dobby went a little overboard trying though-"

"And why were you trying to keep me out to begin with? I'm not a Muggleborn, so why would the Basilisk go after me? Were you hoping you'd have a better chance at being top dog with me out of the way?"

"What? NO! I told you, I _knew_ what was going to happen that year, including the fact that the Dark Lord was the Heir of Slytherin. I knew that even at that age, he'd be obsessed with killing you! Besides, if I wanted you out of Hogwarts so I could be top dog, then I'd do something far more subtle than using one of my own House Elves to expel you. Speaking of which, where is Dobby? You still haven't answered me."

"I honestly don't know. Last I saw of him was just after I tricked your father into freeing him."

"You WHAT? You FREED Dobby? What were you thinking?"

"What's wrong with that? He seemed quite happy to be free."

"I'm sure he was, but Harry, you don't understand! House elves need to be bound to us our _they will die_. Something happened a long time ago to make it so that house-elves had to be bound to us for their health. That dates back to _before_ Hogwarts was founded. Hogwarts has dozens of house-elves here so that freed elves have a place to stay and not worry about their health."

* * *

><p>Later that same day, Hermione found herself in the library trying to study away from the pyromaniac known as Seamus Finnigan, who had set the Gryffindor common room on fire for the <em>fifth time <em>that year. She was starting to wonder if attempting to take nearly every class Hogwarts had to offer was such a good idea, as she was starting to tire around 9 o'clock instead of her usual 10 or 11, and she was starting to fall behind on her homework. True, she was still a few days ahead on the reading, but in First and Second Years she had been at least a week ahead. Her personal standards were falling, she was cranky all the time, and she wasn't getting enough sleep.

She had just started to redo another hour in the library so she could work on her World Studies report by moving to another table out of sight of her first one when Romulus White showed up. "So, a time-turner, huh? We were wondering how you could be in so many classes in one day, but no one ever thought of a time-turner."

"What? How did you know?"

"Easy, Mione. I just saw you at another table going over Arithmancy and Care papers. Yet here you are going over World Studies and Potions. There is no way that you could clean up over there, come here and set out two completely different subjects in that amount of time, and there is no logical reason to change tables. Then there's the fact that I can see your other self over there. Is that good enough?" Hermione nodded, and then turned back to her books. "Hey, would you like some help with that?"

"I can handle it! Besides, don't you have your OWLs to study for? You need to focus on that!"

"Mione, we do share quite a few subjects, so by helping you out, I am revising for my OWLs. I will have one requirement for my help though."

"And what is that?" She half suspected that he'd ask for a date or some other romantic thing that she didn't have time for. She wouldn't have minded _too_ much normally, especially since Cedric Diggory seemed to hint at the possibility that Romulus harboured a bit of a crush on her since she got to Hogwarts and he was nearly as much of a looker as Cedric. But right now she had far too much work to do for her classes to even think about a relationship. Merlin, she wasn't sure that she should go to Hogsmeade, there was that much work.

He shocked her when he actually said "I want you to spend _at least _two hours a day in the Room of Requirement catching up on your sleep. If you do it during the day, I'll even join you and go over your papers for mistakes." Hermione quickly agreed and over the next hour, they quickly went over World Studies, Potions, and CoMC, and Rom got a true measure of how exhausted she was when he spotted simple spelling mistakes in most of her reports. And as they studied together, they grew closer and closer, and everyone could see it. It quickly became a popular thing to go to the Weasley twins and place bets on when Hermione and Romulus would start dating. Of the Hogwarts students, only the pureblood fanatics and the youngest Weasleys refused to place bets. Even Nico, Neville and Harry joined in, with Nico betting on Fourth Year between Halloween and Christmas, Neville betting on Third Year before New Years, and Harry betting December of Fourth Year by Christmas.

* * *

><p>That Friday, November 7, 2003, Harry and Nico were studying their latest letters in Ancient Runes when Harry noticed Nico staring in shock at one of them. Harry was pretty confused, so he looked at the two letters: Algiz and Sowilo, but he didn't see anything worthy of Nico's shock. "Hey, Nico? What's so fascinating about that rune you're staring at?"<p>

"Harry, could you make a mirror for me, please? I need to confirm something, and I need a mirror for that." Luckily for Harry, ever since Hermione had bought Crookshanks, Ron had distanced himself from the group and as a direct result, Harry's grades had shot up until he was one of the top students, and Transfiguration was his second best subject. Once the mirror was ready (transfigured from a spare bit of parchment,) Nico asked "Now, could you look into the mirror, with your scar showing, please?" Harry stared at him in shock. Nico had _never_, not even once asked to see his scar, so why now? He turned to ask Nico, but he just pointed at the mirror. When he did so, any worries he had had before, including about the upcoming Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff Quidditch match vanished. There, in the mirror was his scar, but now he knew what Nico had been staring at. His mirror self's scar was a mirror image of Sowilo, which meant that his scar _was_ Sowilo! "What the bloody hell is going on, Nico?"

"I have no idea, Harry, but let's see if we can find out, shall we?" They quickly discovered that, according to their book, Sowilo meant: _the sun, wholeness, success, fire, meeting of goals, confidence, guidance, taking action, hope, honour, faith in outcomes. Sowilo governs the transmutation of thoughts into energy for action, activating the highest values, strengthening the psychic centres, increasing spiritual will and optimal health, enlightenment, and victory and success through individual will. It promotes invigoration, dedication, optimism and persistence in any endeavour. It will ward against the harmful opinions of others to keep the heart focused on its purpose. Sowilo exposes matters to the clear light of day and strikes suddenly like lightning in a controlled and centred burst of overwhelming, massive action. Sowilo contains the ancient code of honour. These are the common sense guidelines and morality that hold a society together beyond the letter of the law and holds the individual to 'do the right thing.' Sowilo is also the rune of success and victory, thus associated with the next rune, Tiwaz. It gives us the power to win and connects us with revelations concerning our life's purpose, and insight into actions that will guide us in our endeavours._

Harry stared in shock at the description of the rune that made up his scar. No wonder he didn't end up another Tom Riddle, despite the fact that he was raised in basically the same manner! The magic of the rune had protected his soul from the same darkness that took over Riddle and created Voldemort. Just one more reason to thank his mother for her actions that night. He would have probably stared at the image for the rest of the day until he heard Nico call out "Hey, Harry! Class is over, and I've got someone I want you to meet." Harry smiled at his friend, that was in some ways the closest friend he had. Studious and intelligent like Hermione, yet he knew when to relax and have fun, and could even make learning enjoyable (the Animagus training came to mind,) and best of all, Nico was actually able to tell him about his parents. He followed Nico until he was led to a tall, extremely handsome muscular, auburn haired boy in a Hufflepuff uniform and a prefects' badge. "Harry, allow me to introduce my brother in all but blood, and the new Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, Cedric Diggory." _That_ was Cedric Diggory? Well no wonder the girls were always talking about him! That boy was _hot_, sex-on-legs hot! Harry had quickly come to accept the fact that he was gay the previous year when he realized that while Dean, Seamus and Ron were all talking about girls, he was only interested in the other guys, and he had checked out a few guys, but he had stuck with guys in his own house, until now. Unfortunately such thoughts had a definite affect on his crotch and Harry blushed in response. Unaware of his friend's reaction, Nico continued his introduction. "Ced, this is my best friend, Harry Potter."

Unknown to either of the Gryffindors, Harry was having a similar affect on the prefect. Cedric had had a crush on Harry ever since he first laid eyes on him before the Sorting two years before and had in fact confessed the crush to Nico the previous year. All the news he'd heard about Harry since then had made him think that he was the kind of guy that should send him running in the other direction because of Harry's recklessness, but he knew he wouldn't get far. Diggorys, while a young family, were famous throughout wizarding England as a family that chose one love and stayed with them throughout their lives, no matter what. Well, maybe he'd get his chance. The sparks flying from Harry's green eyes definitely suggested he did. Then he realized he had zoned out and refocused. "Hi, Harry. It's nice to finally meet you." He stuck out his hand, and when Harry shook it, sparks started flying from the both of them like they had become living fireworks. And apparently it wasn't just metaphorical, judging by the way Nico was staring at them. But that wasn't important right now, Harry was. "I'm really looking forward to playing against you tomorrow, Harry. I just hope you're ready to lose the Snitch."

"Keep telling yourself that, Cedric. There is no chance that you're getting anywhere near it. But no hard feelings either way. What do you say to a bet?"

"On the game tomorrow? Sure. If you catch it, I'll pay for a round of butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks on the last Hogsmeade weekend of term, deal?" Cedric really hoped that his desires weren't clear enough that Harry could see what he was thinking of, it would probably scare him off!

"And on the off chance that you actually manage to beat me?"

"Then you pay, obviously. Deal?"

"It's a date, Cedric." There was a light blush to their cheeks at Harry's mention of it being a date, but they shook on it, sealing the deal. Of course, Harry's only trouble now was how to get out of Hogwarts and into Hogsmeade with no one being the wiser. And catching the Snitch, no way was he going to be paying on their first date!


	6. Flights

**A/N: **Ok, right off the bat, I'm going to say that Harry's memory of October 31, 1990 (1981 in canon) is going to be different. He will remember more, and what he does remember will be different. Jo often describes Lily as a strong character, someone who managed to face and defy Voldemort three times and live, yet Lily is _begging_ Voldemort before she dies? Not exactly what I'd expect from a strong woman like Lily, so that's going to be different. Lily will be the strong, independent woman we see in Snape's memories, while James, well, you'll just have to wait for the Patronus lessons now, won't you? Speaking of which, italics are spells or memories, while italics and bold are remembered spells. And again, my story will be a combination of book and movie, and always will be.

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Six: Flights**

Nico's prediction to Sirius was far too accurate. The storm that hit the day of the match was one of the worst Hogwarts had seen. Even with his literal eagle eyes, Nico could barely see from one end of the pitch to the other, while Harry and Cedric were nothing more than blurs. He also knew that if it wasn't for Hermione's Impervious Charm, Harry would have been nearly blind out there. Then, when Gryffindor was up by 50 points (score was 150-100), the temperature dropped quickly as Dementors came to feed off the excited Quidditch fans.

_Oh no! _Nico thought as he turned and began to shout at Hermione and Neville, "Quickly think the happiest thought, focus on it and shout with me, _Expecto Patronum_!" The three then called out the spell in unison, creating a large, white dome protecting a large portion of the Gryffindor side of the stadium. Luckily, Professor McGonagall also cast a Patronus to protect the rest of the students. Nico jealously noticed that her Patronus managed to be corporeal-a tabby cat that looked a lot like her Animagus form. But that was before he caught something out of the corner of his eye: something fairly large was falling from fairly high up and one of the Quidditch players was diving after it. He quickly checked that the Dementors were gone and then cast _Wingardium Leviosa_ at the . . . person?! The spell managed to slow him down some, and Dumbledore's spell _Aresto Momentum_ slowed him down even more, allowing the other boy to catch him before he hit the ground. Now that they weren't moving, Nico could finally recognize them as Cedric and . . . Harry! The three friends rushed down to the field but by the time they got there, McGonagall was already taking Harry to the Hospital Wing, so they and the rest of Harry's friends followed her to watch over Harry until he woke up.

* * *

><p>Harry on the other hand hadn't been aware of Nico's prophecy, or he might have started studying more for Divination. As it was, he was only focusing on finding the damned Snitch before he caught his death of cold out here, or ended up paying for his first date. Luckily his vision had started improving after being bitten by the Basilisk the previous June, but not enough that he couldn't appreciate Hermione's Impervious Charm on his glasses. Oddly though, he noticed a large black dog sitting on the stands watching the game, but he waved it off. He didn't believe in the Grim, but why would a dog be interested in Quidditch? He finally caught sight of the Snitch several hundred feet above him, so he charged after it, barely noticing the incoming Dementors, or the fact that Cedric was right behind him. He had nearly caught the Snitch when it quickly swerved to the right, leading him straight to a Dementor. He barely dodged it, but nearly a dozen Dementors had converged on him, and all attempted to Kiss him, causing him to lose his grip on the Nimbus 2010 and fall to the ground unconscious. But as he fell, he heard voices. <em>"Step aside, girl."<em>

"_Never, Voldemort. You can take me, but you are not getting my son!"_

"_Step aside and I will let you live. One of my faithful has asked for your life, but this is your last chance."_

"_Go ahead and kill me then, Voldemort. I refuse to give up my son."_

"_Fine then! __**Avada Kedavra! **__So, you're the one that's supposed to defeat me, huh? Well, the prophecy ends tonight. __**Avada Kedavra!**__"_

"He looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?"

"Peaky?"

"What do you expect? He fell over 500 meters."

"Yeah, come on Ron. Let's walk you off the Astronomy Tower and see what you look like."

Harry decided to announce that he was conscious then by saying "Probably a right sight better than he normally does." He opened his eyes to see Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Nico and Neville all gathered around his bed, with other Gryffindors behind them. He even noticed Draco Malfoy of all people standing by the door! Even with their improved relationship, Harry was surprised to see him at the Hospital Wing checking on him.

"You gave us a right good scare there, mate," Fred said, after he had assured Hermione that he was alright.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Well, you fell off your broom!" Ron explained with his usual lack of tact.

"Really? I _meant _the match, Ron. Who won?" Ron looked shocked at the amount of venom in his voice, but Harry was getting tired of the fact that his first friend had started distancing himself from him. If Harry's friendship meant so little to him, then Harry was starting to regret not taking Draco's hand back on the train.

Everyone backed off and Hermione said "No one blames you, Harry. The Dementors aren't even supposed to be on the grounds. Dumbledore was furious. As soon as he saved you, he sent them off." Harry knew what had happened. For the first time since he joined the team, he had lost a game. Great, that meant that _he_ had to pay for the date with Cedric!

Nico joined in saying "Yeah and Cedric told me that if he had seen you fall, he'd have dived after you. According to him you are, and this is a direct quote, 'more important than any Snitch.'"

Then Ron broke in again, and Harry noticed for the first time that he was holding something. "There's something else you should know too. When you fell, your broom . . . it sort of blew into the Whomping Willow and . . . Well, you know how the Whomping Willow doesn't like being hit." Yeah, Harry knew alright. The previous year him and Ron had been forced to fly a car to get to Hogwarts and crashed into the infamous tree. The car had never recovered from the incident and had, in fact fled to the Dark Forest in order to avoid a repeat of the incident. Ron then unwrapped what he was holding, showing Harry's faithful Nimbus 2010 in pieces, completely ruined and beyond any hope of repair.

A few hours later, after everyone had left, Harry finally managed to relax. He hated having to act like everything was fine to his friends, but he didn't want them to worry about him. Then Cedric appeared and a genuine smile lit up Harry's face. He didn't know why, but the older Hufflepuff seemed to be able to cheer him up in a way that no other had been able to before. "Hi Harry, how are you doing?"

"Fine, except for the fact that I don't know how to defend myself against the Dementors and that I've lost the only broomstick I can remember owning. It's weird though, I feel better now that you're here." Harry almost reached out to grasp Cedric's hand but stopped, settling on smiling lightly at the older boy instead.

"I know what you mean. I couldn't go to sleep until I saw you again and say that I'm sorry. I should have kept a better eye on you!"

"Cedric, shut up. Neither of us could have predicted what happened out there, and I don't think either of us knows how to fight the Dementors. Besides, Nico said that he'd get Draco to call on his father to get Aurors here to protect us from now on."

"Yeah, I'll do the same thing with my dad. By the way, since when did you call Malfoy by his first name? I thought you two hated each other?" The sudden change in their relationship had the entire school suffering from whiplash. Harry and Draco's truce and resulting friendship had many scratching their heads trying to figure out what happened to cause the sudden 180. The duo had been famous throughout the school for their rivalry and apparent hatred for each other, a hatred that most said was only beaten by Harry's hatred for Voldemort and Snape. Most of the students were suggesting a potion or some kind of Dark Magic, prominent among the latter was Ron Weasley.

"Eh, we never really hated each other. We're definitely rivals but we don't hate each other. He's a spoiled prat, and he was jealous of the fact that I chose Ron over him, and then I specifically asked the Hat not to put me in Slytherin because of Draco. But thanks to Nico, we're over that and we've discovered we have a lot in common." Without Nico's newly discovered relationship to Draco, who knew how bad he and Draco would be treating each other?

"Thanks to Nico? How could Nico . . . Oh, right. Never mind. I forgot his mom was a Malfoy. I'm guessing he just found out this summer? That's good; he deserves to know his heritage."

"Yeah, he does. Which reminds me, just out of curiosity, what's your heritage?"

"My mom's a Muggleborn, and my dad's the great-grandson of Muggleborns, so technically I'm a half-blood. I'm actually a little surprised about Dad getting as high in the Ministry as he did. Bloody confusing all this blood status thing, isn't it?"

"Yeah. How do they even define purebloods? I mean, if you think about it, everybody has a Muggle _somewhere_ in their heritage, even Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort! Hell, Voldemort himself is the son of a Muggle, and Salazar has a Muggleborn for a mom. If you go about it a different way, we could both be considered purebloods because both of our parents have or at least had magic. That's why I consider all this argument stupid. Yes, I can understand wanting to keep separate from Muggles, but why all this argument about blood?"

"Harry, are you really turning a midnight meeting into a political argument? That's not exactly the best way to start out a relationship." Harry blushed at that. Cedric then reached out his hand and ran it through his hair. Harry's reaction to that was completely unexpected, as every single light in the Hospital Wing started flickering.

Harry blushed again after Cedric stopped in confusion. Harry's cheeks burned even redder as Cedric's hand stilled, his confusion written on his face. "Sorry Ced. I'm usually more guarded than that, but it's no good around you."

"That was you? Cor blimey, you must be powerful if you're still doing accidental magic. But I don't care about that, or the fact that you're the Boy-Who-Lived. All that matters to me is Harry Potter, Third Year student at Hogwarts and the most amazing guy here." Harry attempted to argue with that, but Cedric cut him off. "You _are_ amazing, Harry. And not because you're famous or because of what happened thirteen years ago. No, you're amazing because you helped us out even when we turned against you last year. Everyone thought you were the Heir of Slytherin, yet you didn't let it get to you and you stopped the real Heir after everyone had given up hope."

"Thanks, Ced. I really hope that this can be just the first page of our story, not the ending. I'm . . . wonderstruck by you." The young couple continued talking until Cedric had to go back to the Hufflepuff dorms. That night, Harry went to sleep with a smile on his face for the first time since September.

* * *

><p>About two weeks later, on November 22, Nico was dragging Neville out of the castle towards the Dark Forest. "What do you think you're doing, Nico? We're not supposed to be out of the castle except on Hogsmeade weekends or for class."<p>

"No, the rules say that we can be out on the grounds as long as we're not missing classes, and I am NOT letting a few Dementors ruin that for me. Besides, I have an idea that should get you flying and loving it. And with Dora and the other Aurors here, we shouldn't have any trouble with the Dementors." Ever since Cedric and Draco had complained to their fathers about the Quidditch match, Fudge was forced to send a couple of Aurors to Hogwarts in order to prevent something like that from happening again. Among them was a cousin that Draco hadn't realized he had: the half-blood member of the Black family, Nymphadora ("Don't call me that!") Tonks, a fairly young member of the Corps (she had only been a full Auror for four years) and a protégé of Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody. (An extremely famous Auror who had fought against not only Voldemort, but also his predecessor Gellert Grindelwald. He was so successful that Nico's mother and uncle _still_ complained about him when they got together.) "Besides, I've got nothing else to do since I created the counter-curse for Draco last week and I need to get away from Harry right now." As it turned out, the counter for the Mudblood Curse (Lutum Sanguine-a curse that literally turned blood into mud while allowing it to continue to function normally) was fairly simple-Mundare Sanguine (Purify Blood.)

"Because he's completely fallen for Cedric?"

"It's more than that; Harry is completely enchanted with him! Don't get me wrong, I love Cedric and I'm glad that Harry's fallen for him. But listening to him go on and on about him, constantly asking if Cedric is in love with anyone else or learning anything he can, it's driving me batty! Hell, he even woke me up at 2 am to ask me _again_ who Cedric loves and how he likes his tea!"

Deciding to play with his friend, Neville asked "And how does he like his tea?"

"Plain with a little cream," Nico answered automatically. Then he realized what he'd done and he glared at Neville. "That makes me glad that you currently don't like flying, especially considering we're here."

'Here' happened to be the paddock where Hagrid was keeping the hippogriffs and where Buckbeak was tied up, and Neville immediately realized what Nico's plan was. "Oh no! No way are you going to get me to ride a hippogriff! You're crazy!"

Nico just smiled at his friend. "And what better way is there for your first flight? This way you have something nice and large under you while I'm behind you, and you know how to safely approach them. What can go wrong?"

"A lot of things. You remember what happened last time you tried to help me fly."

Well, that was true. During their first flying lesson, Neville's broom had gone completely wild and Nico had flown up to try and help him. His reward: a broken leg and broken broom while Nev suffered from a broken wrist. "Well, the real test for any choice is: would we make the same choice again, knowing full well what it might cost? Thinking about it like that, I feel pretty good about that choice, cause here I am, at it again. Come on Nev, try it. Harry managed to have fun on the hippogriffs, and you know how bad _his_ luck is!" Nico had already bowed to Buckbeak and untied him and had started bringing him to Neville. Neville realized that Nico was determined and decided that, like Harry, it was best to just go along with him and bowed to the hippogriff. Once Buckbeak had bowed back, Neville jumped on his back, with Nico right behind him. "Alright Buckbeak, let's go!" With Nico's prodding, Buckbeak took off with a quick gallop while Neville quickly grabbed the hippogriff's neck in order to keep from falling. As they got higher and flew longer though, Neville released his grip and started looking around. Nico leaned in to whisper in his ear "Spread your arms out and it will get even better." Neville decided to try it, and sure enough, it felt like he was flying on his own. Finally he could understand why Harry was always flying; he could finally understand the appeal of Quidditch! Who wouldn't want to feel so . . . so _free _all the time? Unfortunately his freedom and enjoyment was cut short by an untimely whistle, and Buckbeak dived back down to the paddock.

"Beaky, what are ya doing out here?" Then he turned and saw the two boys. "Nico, Neville, you two shouldn't be out here! Beaky here is in trouble with the Ministry 'cause of what happened at me first class!"

"Sorry, Hagrid, but I wanted to take Neville flying without having to borrow a broom. You see, he didn't like flying much, so I-wait a minute! What do you mean Buckbeak's in trouble?"

"Malfoy's gone and complained to the Committee fer the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. He's got a hearin' in April. If I don't convince them that Beaky's a good hippogriff, Buckbeak's going to be put to death!"

"WHAT?! Draco wouldn't go and complain about that!"

"It wasn' him. It was his father."

"Well don't you worry, Hagrid. I'll make sure that the Committee doesn't kill Buckbeak, even if I have to 'talk' to Uncle Lucy myself." Neville and Hagrid burst out laughing at Nico's nickname for Lucius Malfoy.

On their way back, Neville asked Nico "Hey, do you still mean what you said back in First Year?"

"What do you mean?"

"Back in First Year, you said that you thought I was worth a googolplex of Dracos. Do you still believe that, considering the fact that you're related?"

"As I recall, I said that you were worth a googolplex of Malfoys, not Dracos. No number of prats can replace you, Nev, and that's what Draco was back then. Draco still can't replace you, Nev, but I don't think anyone can replace Draco, either. I don't think I could bare it to lose either of you. Does that answer your question?" Neville just smiled and pulled Nico in for a hug.

**A/N:** Okay, a quick thing to say about the Patronus shield that Hermione, Neville and Nico create. My new beta, embirsiphonelilathia doubted that it was possible for the trio to create such a large shield, so I figured I better explain it. First off, the Dementors were still a good distance from the stands, so that makes it easier. Second, they worked in unison, and spells become exponentially more powerful when multiple people cast it at the same time. (I forget where I read that, but I know I read it somewhere.) Finally, I honestly believe that Neville is close to, if not equal to Harry in power and potential, but he never shows it in canon because of the poorly matched wand and lack of confidence. Because neither of those are hindering him at this point in my story, his full power can shine through.


	7. Marauder's Map

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Seven: The Marauder's Map**

Two weeks later on December 6, the second Hogsmeade weekend of the year, and the day after Hufflepuff lost against Ravenclaw, Harry decided to try and sneak out to meet Cedric at the Three Broomsticks, Dementors be damned. Unfortunately the Twins spotted his footprints in the snow, grabbed him by the arms and dragged him back inside the castle. "Guys, let me go!"

Fred was the first to respond. "Clever, Harry."

"But not clever enough."

"Besides, we've got a better way."

"What? You have a better way to Hogsmeade?"

"Yep. Don't worry-"

"We'll get you there."

"We'll show you a quicker way."

"If you pipe down." Once they were inside, they stopped near an unused staircase and said, "Now Harry-"

"Come and join the big boys," they said in unison as they pulled off his Invisibility Cloak.

"What are you doing?"

"Early Christmas present, Harry." Fred then pulled out a folded up piece of old blank parchment, flourishing it like it was a priceless treasure.

Harry stared at it, suspecting it to be one of their homemade joke products. "What's this rubbish supposed to be?" he asked.

"'What's this rubbish' he says. That there is the secret of our success," George replied.

"It's a wrench giving it to you, believe me-"

"But we decided last night that your needs are greater than ours."

"Anyway, we know it by heart. So, we bequeath it to you."

"What would I need a spare bit of old parchment for?"

"A bit of old parchment!" said Fred, closing his eyes with a grimace as though Harry had mortally offended him. "Explain, George."

"Well… when we were in our first year, Harry — young, carefree, and innocent —" Harry snorted at that. The Twins ever being innocent was as likely as a boring Hogwarts, a Hagrid that hated or feared dangerous creatures, or a Hermione that hated books.

"Be honest, George. He means more innocent than we are now."

"Yes, well, we got into a spot of trouble with Filch. We let off a Dungbomb in a corridor and it upset him for some reason."

"So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual—"

"—detention—"

"—disembowelment—"

"-and we couldn't help but notice a drawer in his one of his filing cabinets labelled _**Confiscated and Highly Dangerous**_."

"Don't tell me-" Harry said with a grin.

"Well, what would you have done?"

Harry's grin grew even bigger as he said "Probably _filched _the entire drawer."

Fred turned to his twin and said "Now why didn't we think of that? Harry here is far more worthy of their legacy than we are! He even managed to use Filch's name in a pun! George caused a diversion with another Dungbomb while I only nicked this. We don't reckon Filch ever figured out how to work it. He probably suspected it because of who it belonged to, or he suspected what it was or he wouldn't have confiscated it."

"And you guys know how to work it, I suspect?"

"Naturally," George replied. "This little beauty has taught us more than all the teachers in the school."

"You guys are winding me up."

"Oh, are we? George, if you will?"

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." As soon as George finished saying that, ink started to appear on the parchment, with a label at the centre saying _Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, Buck and Spike, Purveyors of Aid to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present the Marauder's Map._ Harry stared at the Map in shock, recognizing all of the names, and he remembered who one of those names belonged to. He barely noticed when George started talking again. "We owe them so much."

"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of rule-breakers. That map shows everyone in Hogwarts, where they are-"

"-what they're doing-"

"-every minute-"

"of every day."

"Now, listen. There are seven secret passages out of Hogwarts straight into Hogsmeade." Fred then pointed out four of them. "These are the ones that Filch knows about." Pointing at another one, he continued "This one was blocked off by a cave-in. Then there's another one under the Whomping Willow, but nobody ever uses that one. Then this final one" he pointed it out before continuing, "the One-Eyed Witch passageway leads straight into Honeydukes' cellar."

"Don't forget, when you're done say 'Mischief Managed,' otherwise anyone can read it."

"So, young Harry," said Fred, in an uncanny impersonation of Percy, "mind you behave yourself."

"See you in Honeydukes," said George, winking.

The twins were about to walk off when Harry hugged the both of them around the neck. They were so shocked that they didn't say a thing until Harry let go. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Guys, I owe you big time for this! If you need anything, anything at all, just come to me and you'll get it! Money, support, my name, a distraction for Filch, anything! This is one of the best presents I've ever been given, and I can never pay you back enough!"

"Thanks, Harry, but why are you so happy about it?"

"Ask me later and I solemnly swear I'll tell you then." The twins shrugged and went on their way, but not before making a note to ask Harry about his reaction to the map again later, especially considering how much he hated his fame, and the fact that he offered to use his fame to their advantage if they asked for it. Harry knew something about the Map that they didn't, but what?

Naturally, Harry rushed for the passageway and followed it to Honeydukes' cellar, managing to avoid one of the workers when he came down for a box of Jelly Slugs. It was so crowded with Hogwarts students that no one noticed when he just appeared out of thin air, stuffing his Invisibility Cloak inside one of his pockets. He just wandered around the shop exploring it when he spotted a formerly unusual trio in one corner. Nico, Neville and Draco were in a section called **UNUSUAL TASTES** apparently discussing the treats there. "Harry, wanting blood-flavoured lollipops? Nico you may be my cousin, but you are definitely crazy! Neville, why do you hang out with him?" As Draco spoke, Harry realized that he no longer spoke with the bored, drawling voice that he'd used in pretty much every conversation they'd had since they met in Diagon Alley. In fact, his voice now had an almost musical quality to it.

"Sometimes Draco, I have no idea. But are you really just now figuring that out? I've known that for more than two years now. Nico would probably ask us about the Cockroach Clusters next."

"Knowing him, you're probably right," Harry said, laughing as the trio all jumped at his voice.

"Bloody hell, Harry! You just about gave me a heart attack!" Nico said. "How did you get here?"

"And since when do you not wear glasses?" Draco asked. Harry explained about the Map as they left Honeydukes (although he was unable to explain not having glasses anymore as it was a mystery to him as well,) and walked to the Shrieking Shack, which is where the trio had planned to meet with Hermione and Romulus before going to the Three Broomsticks.

When they arrived at the Shack, they found Crabbe and Goyle following their new boss, Theodore Nott, a Third Year Slytherin that Draco said was without a doubt, one of the staunchest supporters of Voldemort in their year. Nott was there, taunting Romulus and Hermione, which made Harry decide to follow in his father's footsteps a little and prank them. Just as Nott called Hermione 'mudblood' (which made the Malfoy cousins wince,) Harry tossed a snowball into the side of his face. That was quickly followed by five more snowballs, each of them impacting the bullies faces, then blinding Crabbe with his own hat followed by pantsing Goyle and kicking him in the arse, knocking him into the snow. Harry then twirled Crabbe around by his scarf until he fell over, then dragged Nott towards the Shrieking Shack by his legs.

"Very haunted around here, isn't it?" Neville asked the bullies when they finally ran past the trio. Harry then teased Romulus and Hermione, making a bit of Rom's hat and Hermione's hair jump up and down before Hermione realized what was going on, so Harry revealed himself, to the amusement of all six friends.

When Harry explained about the Map again, Hermione tried to talk him into handing it over to Professor McGonagall. Harry's reaction shocked all of them, and it was not just because his eyes flashed the green of the Killing Curse. "WHAT? Hand over the Map? Hermione, I'd rather never buy another broom than give up the Map!" All five stared at him in shock. They all knew how much Harry loved flying and the freedom it gave him, so preferring to never buying another broom showed how much he valued the Marauder's Map.

In an effort to keep the peace and calm Harry down, Hermione pointed to a woman saying "Oh look who it is. Madame Rosmerta. Apparently Ron fancies her."

"And how did you come by this tidbit about the Weasel, Hermione?" Draco asked.

"When you're friends with someone for two years, you can spot them easily, and Ron has been attempting to flirt with her every time he comes here." With that, they walked into the Three Broomsticks, despite being heckled by a couple of Shrunken Heads. Harry quickly spotted Cedric and joined him, with the other five joining them at the large booth. Following the rule of their bet, Harry paid for all of their drinks.

They had been talking and simply enjoying each other's company for about half an hour when a sudden breeze went by, as Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Hagrid walked into the pub with Cornelius Fudge. Draco quickly grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and tossed it over Harry while Hermione moved a Christmas tree in front of them, hiding them from the foursome's view. The four walked into the corner booth right next to them, while Rosmerta brought them their drinks. "A small gillywater —"

"Mine," said Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Four pints of mulled mead —"

"Ta, Rosmerta," said Hagrid.

"A cherry syrup and soda with ice and umbrella —"

"Mmm!" said Professor Flitwick, smacking his lips.

"So you'll be the red currant rum, Minister."

"Thank you, Rosmerta, m'dear," said Fudge's voice. "Lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one yourself, won't you? Come and join us…"

"Well, thank you very much, Minister."

"I do hope business is good."

"It'd be a lot better if the Ministry wasn't sending Dementors into my pub every other night!" Rosmerta complained. "Nobody's going come to a pub where they're going to get scared out of their wits!"

"We have a killer on the loose. I dare say you heard what happened up at the school on Halloween."

"As a matter of fact, I did. It was all the students could talk about for the next month! Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?"

"I'm sure of it. They're a necessary precaution, unfortunate, but there you are. I've just met some of them and they're in a fury against Dumbledore because he won't let them inside the castle grounds."

"I should think not," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?"

"Hear, hear!" squeaked Professor Flitwick.

"All the same, they are here to protect you all from something much worse."

"Worse, Minister? Black is terrible, but at least he can only kill someone. Those creatures would take your soul, and they nearly did just that to Harry Potter last month. Harry Potter, the very reason that you sent the Dementors here was attacked by his so-called 'protectors,'" Professor McGonagall objected.

"Still, we all know what Black's capable of . . ."

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it? Of all the people to go over to You-Know-Who, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought. I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd have said you'd had too much mead."

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta. The worst he did isn't widely known."

"Worse? Worse then murdering all those people, Minister? What could possibly be worse?"

"You say you can remember him at Hogwarts. Do you recall who his best friend was?"

"Naturally, Minerva! Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here, even before they hit Third Year. Ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter."

"Precisely. Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little group. Both very bright of course-exceptionally bright in fact-but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers."

"I dunno 'bout that. Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money."

"You'd have thought Potter and Black were brothers! Nigh on inseparable they were! I still can't believe Black could do it."

"Of course they were inseparable, Filius. Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends, except for maybe Grace. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily, then they named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him."

"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?"

"Worse even than that, m'dear. Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who and had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course You-Know-Who wasn't an easy person to hide from, and there was a spy in the Potter's inner circle. And it wasn't helped by the fact that Sirius' brother, Regulus was always visiting them, and they knew _he_ was a Death Eater! Why they trusted the younger Black, I doubt anyone will ever know! Finally after two years, and a few months after Regulus' death, Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."

"How does that work?"

"An immensely complex spell involving the concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find, unless of course, the Secret Keeper chooses to divulge it of his own free will. As long as the Secret Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where they were staying for an eternity and never find them, even if he had his face pressed against their sitting room window!" Flitwick explained.

McGonagall picked up the tale then. "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were and that Black was planning to go into hiding himself. Dumbledore remained worried however, worried enough that I remember him offering to be their Secret Keeper himself. But James insisted on using Black."

"Yes, and then not even three days later-"

"Black betrayed them?"

Fudge picked it back up again. "He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent role, he was ready to declare his support openly for You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters' death. But, as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colours as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it —"

"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid shouted out. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me that rescued Harry from their home! Jus' got him outta the ruins an' Sirius Black turns up on that flyin' motorbike he used to ride. Never occurred ter me what he was doin' there. I didn' know he'd bin Lily an' James's Secret-Keeper. Thought he'd jus' heard the news o' You-Know-Who's attack an' come ter see what he could do. White an' shakin', he was. An' yeh know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR! Then he says, 'Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him.' But I had me orders from Dumbledore an' I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncle's." Harry nearly jumped out of his seat to yell at Hagrid then and there, but Draco and Cedric kept him pinned. "Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. 'I won't need it anymore,' he says. I shoulda known there was somethin' fishy goin' on then. He loved that motorbike, it was one o' the last things he bought with his brother, what was he givin' it ter me for? Why wouldn' he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace. Dumbledore knew he'd bin the Potters' Secret-Keeper. Black knew he was goin' ter have ter run fer it that night, knew it was a matter o' hours before the Ministry was after him. _But what if I'd given Harry to him, eh?_ I bet he'd've pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. His bes' friends' son! But when a wizard goes over ter the Dark Side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to em anymore…"

Fudge picked up the story again. "The next night, little Peter Pettigrew, another of the Potter's friends confronted him."

"Peter Pettigrew?" Rosmerta asked.

McGonagall explained about him. "Yes, little lump of a boy, always following them around? Remember him? He hero-worshipped them, never quite in their league, talent-wise, especially when it came to duelling. I was rather harsh with him back then . . . you don't know how much I regret it now."

Fudge picked it up again. "Maddened by grief, he cornered Black. Eyewitnesses — Muggles, of course, we wiped their memories later — told us how Pettigrew cornered Black. They say he was sobbing, 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' And then he went for his wand. Black was vicious, he didn't just kill Pettigrew, he destroyed him! A finger, that's all that was left, a finger and nothing else. I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people. I — I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with a heap of bloodstained robes in front of him. Sirius Black may not have put his hands to the Potters, but he's the reason they're dead. The odd thing is, he seemed to be quite sane when I went to Azkaban last. You know, most of the prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the dark; there's no sense in them…but I was always shocked at how _normal _Black seems. He always spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You'd have thought he was merely bored —always asked if I'd finished with my newspaper, cool as you please, saying he wanted to do the crosswords."

"But what do you think he's broken out to do?" said Madam Rosmerta. "Good gracious, Minister, he isn't trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, is he?"

"I dare say that is his eventual plan. But we hope to catch Black long before that. I must say, You-Know-Who alone and friendless is one thing ... but give him back his most devoted servant, and I shudder to think how quickly he'll rise again ..." Draco and Cedric stared at Harry in shock, and once they had recovered from it, quickly snuck Harry back to Honeydukes so he could get back to the castle.


	8. Christmas

**A/N:** Here's a birthday present for Draco Malfoy, another chapter on my Harry Potter stories. Have fun, review, and up Slytherin!

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Eight: Christmas**

Over the next couple of weeks, Draco and Cedric kept visiting Harry, making sure that he wasn't too upset over the revelation about Sirius Black. They got so annoying that he eventually pulled them aside and said "Listen, I already knew pretty much everything we overheard that day thanks to Nico's father." Eventually they both relaxed (although it took them reading the letter before leaving Harry alone,) but they both decided to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas that year. And they weren't the only ones staying at Hogwarts for Harry that year. Hermione, the Twins and Nico were also staying behind to watch over him, which, while embarrassing, also warmed Harry's heart. He could hardly believe that there were so many people that cared for him so much that they would give up time with their families to spend time with him.

The day after Harry calmed down Cedric and Draco, Draco showed up at the Gryffindor table, asking to talk to Harry in private. When they arrived at the Room of Requirement, Harry invited Draco to sit down and explained the Room. (The Room of Requirement was a room on the seventh floor opposite a tapestry of a wizard trying to teach trolls to tap-dance. It was called the Room of Requirement because it would become whatever the person needed, and was only there when it was required.) Once that was done, Draco started talking. "Harry, I think that my uncle was right about Black." Harry stared at Draco and asked him to explain. "Well, I decided to think about it like a Slytherin with Gryffindor nobility, something I think you have a bit of familiarity with, right Harry?" Harry blushed at that while Draco continued. "Let me explain. The scenario is this: Voldemort is at the height of his power and you and your closest friends are fighting him. Umm, Nico and Hermione are married with a newborn son and you're the godfather. You have just discovered that the Dark Lord is out to kill all three of them and you know about the Fidelius Charm and that one of your friends is a spy. What do you do?"

Harry thought about it before finally saying "I'd choose someone fairly weak, magically speaking, to be the Secret Keeper while I play decoy, probably have Ron as decoy. That way, Nico and Hermione are safe while we can lay a trap for Voldemort when he comes to torture me to get the Secret."

"Exactly! Now, fast forward a few days. Ron has been revealed to you as the spy and has betrayed Nico and Hermione to their deaths while Hagrid has taken your godson to Dumbledore. What do you do?"

"I'd be far too furious to be thinking clearly, so I'd go after the damned traitor after making sure that Hagrid had a way to make sure my godson stayed safe. I catch the traitor and my name is cleared while my godson is protected from any influence the traitor would have." Harry froze when he realized what he said. "You're right, Sirius is innocent!"

"And there's more than that," Draco continued. I didn't think about it earlier, but they said that he was your godfather. I don't know much about godparents in the Muggle world, but in our world, godparents take oaths to protect their charge. If they break that oath, they _die_. There's a better chance of the Dark Lord being a Muggle than there is that Sirius betrayed your family."

* * *

><p>Speaking of Christmas, Nico was in a bind over his gifts. He'd already taken care of most of them. For the Twins, he'd made copies of his dad's prank journals, Draco was getting the Animagus potion and Nico's acceptance of the Malfoy crest on his robes, while Sirius had already received his-a visit from Madame Pomfrey for a surprisingly light treatment of mind healing (she was quickly Obliviated of the meeting so she couldn't reveal Sirius' location or the fact that Nico was helping him.) While he'd been there, Sirius took away his plan for Harry's present by saying that he'd get it-a Firebolt. Now he had to figure something new out for Harry <em>and<em> something for Neville.

Luckily, when Nico went to tell Draco he was ready to accept the Malfoy crest, he suggested the perfect present for Harry. "Harry is one of the only people in the nation that can speak Parseltongue, yet he avoids that gift because of it's connections to the Dark Lord. If I weren't already getting him a Potions book, I'd be getting him a snake."

"Why's that, Drake?"

"For a couple of reasons. First, having a snake for a pet would force Harry to exercise his Parseltongue gift. Second, a snake would be able to advise him on certain things and not treat him differently because he's the Boy-Who-Lived, they'll only treat him different because he's a Parselmouth. Third, with a snake for a pet, he'll know who his true friends are because they will accept him whether or not he's a Parselmouth."

Nico had to admit that his cousin had good points, so when him and Neville Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron, they split up with Neville going to Gringotts (Neville was hoping to get an answer as to why it took him so long to catch up to his classmates in schoolwork, he was suspecting a block,) while Nico went past Gringotts to the one shop that he knew that could help him choose the right snake for Harry-Le Fay's on Knockturn Alley. Nico quickly put on his new Malfoy robes and raised the hood so he could fit in better in the Dark alley and look like he belonged there. Something he had learned from his mother, cousin and Harry was that the denizens of Knockturn didn't take well to strangers, and they could easily spot someone who didn't belong. The deeper he went into Knockturn, the Darker the shops became, but Nico knew that Le Fay's was so deep in Knockturn that Borgin and Burke's looked Light in comparison.

Eventually he arrived and the owner immediately greeted him. "Welcome, Mr Grace, I've been expecting you. I am Judas Le Fay." Le Fay looked like death warmed over, even Sirius looked better than him, and that was after thirteen years in Azkaban! He looked like he was literally skin and bones, hunchbacked, diseased, and old enough to have known Binns when he was still alive. (And considering that the current Hogwarts rumours said Binns died _before _Dumbledore was a student, that was extremely old.)

"Then I assume that you know why I am here as well, Mr Le Fay?"

"Of course. You are here to buy a Language Lozenge for Parseltongue so you can pick a snake for a friend. However, you must prove yourself before I sell you one of my Lozenges. Why do you want to buy your friend a snake?" Nico quickly explained, using his cousin's reasoning, and it seemed to please the living corpse. "Good answer, Mr Grace. However, I don't think you need a Language Lozenge to find your friend his snake. I have a nice, young Fetura snake that I think your friend would like. I've only sold one of them before, but the young man who bought her was very pleased. He said that she was a perfect companion and a fabulous advisor." A headache hit Nico then and he heard _And he should be the perfect way to seduce Mr Potter to our side. It worked well enough with the Dark Lord and Nagini. I do love Feturas and their love of the Dark._

"What? What did you say? What makes you think this is for Potter?"

"What are you talking about? I never said a word about Potter. Are you feeling alright, Mr Grace?" Nico was just a tad bit worried when Le Fey said that, until he heard something else. _How did that little bastard know that? Maybe I should sell him a Parseltongue Lozenge that will turn him to the Dark? Or maybe just a regular Lozenge and his own Fetura? Nah, better be both, just to play it safe. The Dark Lord will need as much help as he can get when he returns._ Nico was so terrified that purely on reflex, he whipped out his wand and shouted out _Svelte!_

Neville came in just as the man burst into pieces from the old spell. "NICO! What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm sorry Nev, but I panicked! He was talking to me, but I was hearing things when his mouth wasn't open! He said something about a Fetura snake and turning me and Harry to the Dark using them!"

"Whoa, calm down Nico! Listen, there's nothing we can do to change it, so let's just do what we can to make sure no one ever finds out it was you. But first, let's go through this place and see if there's anything we could use."

Nico stared at his friend in shock, saying "Nev, that was a very Slytherin thought."

"Thanks, I think. But why have this trip be a complete waste? Oh, and if you find some books that you can't read, let me give it a try. According to the Goblins, I'm a Parselmouth." Nico gaped at his friend, hardly believing that he could drop such a bombshell so easily, but he eventually got over the shock. He shook his head at what his cousin would say if he found out that the only two Parselmouths in their generation were both sorted into Gryffindor.

By the time they left, they had found several Parselscript books (something that Nico hadn't believed existed for the simple reason that snakes couldn't read or write. Apparently the books were written by Parselmouths that decided to try and write in that language.) Neville kept the Herbology and Cursebreaking books while deciding that the Duelling, Transfiguration and one History book would go to Harry as his Christmas present from him. Once they had finished looting the store, they quickly started messing with the potions in such a way as to cause an explosion within half an hour. The duo then left the store as quickly as possible, heading straight for Diagon Alley.

Once they arrived back in Diagon, they went straight for Madame Rowling's Magical Menagerie to find Harry's snake. Fortunately, with Neville revealed as a Parselmouth, there was no need for the Parseltongue Lozenge. Within five minutes of talking to the snakes, they had found two that were willing to go with them-a garter snake and a beautiful rainbow-coloured snake that neither of the boys could identify. "Excuse us, but could you tell us what this snake is?"

Madame Rowling came over and explained. "That boys, is called a Sunbeam Snake, and it's originally from Southeast Asia. A nice constrictor that usually eats rats and small birds, but will accept eggs. It's also quite expensive, 50 Galleons. That garter snake you're holding is only two Galleons and ten Sickles." The boys quickly bought the snakes, with Neville getting the Garter, naming it Sasha, and Nico buying the Sunbeam for Harry. Nico then snuck off to the Quidditch shop and bought a Firebolt and new Nimbus 2015, with the Firebolt being the most expensive gift so far at 5,369 Galleons, while the Nimbus was a mere 800 Galleons.

* * *

><p>The next day, Nico was heading out of the Room of Requirement after finishing Draco's Animagus potion when he spotted what appeared to be an <em>extremely<em> large dog. But it was unlike any dog he had ever seen before. It's skeleton was easily seen, while it's flesh was made of flames and the eyes looked like drops of blood and the teeth could have almost passed for Basilisk fangs. It took one look at Nico and leaped. But instead of leaping for him, it leapt into a nearby clump of mistletoe that had recently been hung. Over where the hound had been, Nico could see Luna Lovegood. Panicking, he asked "L-luna? Di-did you see-?"

"The Nargle? Of course I did, it was saying hello."

Nico stared at her in shock. "Tha-that w-was a _Nargle?_"

"Oh, yes. Fortunately it liked you, that's why it ran off. A distant squib cousin of mine, Howard Lovecraft ran across them and wrote about them for Muggles. Naturally he used a different name than we do, he called them the Hounds of Tindalos." Nico froze at that, quickly recognizing the name of both the tale and the author. If Luna's creatures were the stuff of H P Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos of Eldritch horrors, then he was _immediately_ adopting a new policy when it came to them: smile and nod.

* * *

><p>When the Christmas holidays started, Hogwarts was the emptiest any of the students had seen, not even when the Basilisk was roaming around was the castle so empty. Only the twins, Cedric, Draco and Harry's two closest friends (Nico and Hermione) were staying at the castle. Fortunately this allowed them to get together without any eyebrows being raised. It also allowed Nico to talk to his cousin about what happened at Le Fay's. According to Draco, a little known gift of the Malfoy family that cropped up around the age of fourteen was a natural Legillimency, or, as it was called by Muggles, mind-reading. It would start out at only being able to read the surface thoughts of the person nearest you, and eventually progress to the point where they could duplicate the effect of the Legillimens spell without a word or wand. (The main theory about how they got it concerned the Malfoy line's Veela heritage. Apparently about fifteen hundred years before, a male Veela had seduced a married girl and got her pregnant, thus giving her and the child the name Mal foi, or 'bad faith.' Starting with that half-Veela child, the Malfoy family had been natural Legillimens. That, and the platinum blonde hair seemed to be the only legacy left of their Veela heritage.) Over the rest of Christmas break, the cousins worked together to control their new ability, and use it to gain some blackmail material on their teachers.<p>

When Christmas morning arrived, the entire castle was woken by a WHOO! coming from the Hufflepuff dorms, and Nico knew that Cedric had found his gift. Considering what he had gotten his 'big brother,' Nico had decided to follow the ghosts' Christmas song, _Have a merry Christmas day, Find a broomstick in your stocking, See the magic on this day,_ and placed the Firebolt inside a traditional stocking in the Hufflepuff common room.

In the Gryffindor common room, Draco joined his friend and cousin just as Harry opened his first present, the usual jumper and food from Mrs Weasley. He was pleasantly surprised by _Potions for Dummies _from Draco and the Parseltongue books from Neville. Nico got a curious look when he found the sunbeam snake, but Harry accepted him easily enough, even to the point of naming him Basil. That left only two presents. Harry grabbed the smaller, book-shaped one first, and was very surprised when he found a long note in the front.

_Dear Mr Potter,_

_I realized that I have never truly thanked you for protecting my property two years ago. Albus related the entire story, including the fact that you were willing to give up your life to protect my Stone. I would like to think that even if you had known that I had given Albus a fake Stone, you would have still protected it. As thanks, I would give you the real Stone, but I still worry about Tom, and the Stone is a corrupting influence. Albus seems to have already fallen to the corrupting influence of his own Stone, and I would hate for the same to happen to you. If you could do me one last favour, find his Stone and destroy it, please. I have many sins to answer for when I pass on, most of which are connected to making the Stone in the first place. As such, to truly thank you for stopping Tom, I am giving you something far more valuable than money or eternal life: I am giving you some books full of wise words. Your Winston Churchill was a very wise man in a time of war, with words to match. I believe that you can become the Churchill of your generation, and you will be glad for his words when the time comes. Study these books Mr Potter, and you will go far. Also, I am giving you all of my research into making a Philosopher's Stone so you can see why it is so dangerous and corrupting. Please DESTROY THOSE PAPERS AS SOON AS YOU FINISH READING THEM. I don't want to hear that you have been lost because of me. Just making the Stone is a bad enough sin for me._

_Again, Thank You,_

_Nicolas Flamel_

"Hey, Nico? You're studying Alchemy, right? Could you go over these papers, please?" Once Nico had taken the papers, Harry opened the package. Inside were two books of quotes by Winston Churchill, _Winston Churchill By Himself_ and _The Wit and Wisdom of Churchill._

Harry was about to start eating one of Mrs Weasley's mince pies when Draco stopped him. "What do you think you're doing, Harry?"

"Um, about to enjoy a Christmas present, why?"

"Salazar, you really need a Slytherin friend, don't you? Listen, how did you get rid of Crabbe and Goyle last year when you needed to question me about the Chamber?"

"Hermione put a sleeping draught inside a couple of cupcakes, why?" Draco nodded, then gave a pointed look at the food. A few seconds later, Harry realized what he was implying. "Do you really think that there are potions in the food? Mrs Weasley wouldn't do that!"

"Probably not, but it never hurts to check. You never know who might have gone over these before we get them. Most of us Slytherins check all the food we get for potions. Listen, Harry, I'm not trying to make you doubt her, I'm just trying to make sure you're safe. Please, just let me check?" Harry nearly refused, but Draco had never steered him wrong before, so he relented. To their surprise, when Draco cast the spell to reveal any potions, the cake glowed a light pink and the pies glowed blue while the nut brittle was left untouched. "Hmm, blue is loyalty potion, while light pink is a love potion, fairly weak, but still a love potion. Unfortunately we can't find out who they're keyed to. What we _can_ do is make sure that they don't affect you."

He was about to explain how when Nico ran from the common room into the loo. Draco quickly neutralized the potions with a dose of the First Year potion-an Antidote to Common Poisons. When Nico came out again, it was obvious that he'd been sick. "Harry, I'm sorry, but I burned the papers. I _had_ to destroy them, I _had_ to! I'm dropping Alchemy _today_ if that is what has to be done to make the Philosopher's Stone!" At their confused looks, Nico handed them a single piece of paper. "This is all that's left of their research, and the only reason I left it intact is so that you can read it and see what an atrocity it is!" All the more confused, the two boys read the paper, and almost needed to run to the loo themselves.

_**The Ingredients to Make a Philosopher's Stone:**_

_The blood of seven hundred and seventy-seven innocent humans (children between the ages of one and ten work the best, magical children work even better)_

_The blood and hearts of seven unicorns_

_One uncut diamond (to use as the stone, diamond works best because the stone used gets weaker once it is complete, also the larger the better)_

_One cauldron (large enough to hold all of the blood) inscribed with the runes for 'Life', 'Death', 'Sacrifice' and 'Creation'._

Harry just stared at the paper in shock, while Draco quickly pulled out his wand and burned the paper. "And that is why so few people actually want immortality. The price for immortality is always far too high for most to actually pay, and it always involves murder. Nature always exists in balance, and for one person to live a longer life than most, it means taking life from another."

That statement woke Harry enough for him to push aside the food and grab the last present. This one also held a note, which, again, he read before opening the present.

_Dear Harry,_

_First off, I want to say that I'm sorry for scaring you back at your home with the Muggles, but I had to see you again. Also, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to convince Dumbledore to let me raise you. If I had, I'm sure that you'd have had a happier life, if what I saw five months ago was any indication. After all, you only run away from home if you're not happy there. I should know, being a run-away myself. I just hope that when we see each other next time, it will be a new beginning for a relationship that should have never been broken. By the way, that was great flying at your last game, you flew even better than Prongs. (That was our nickname for your dad, James, my dear Prongslet.) It's just too bad about your broom. To make up for your loss and as a down payment on thirteen years of missed birthdays and Christmases, I've sent you a new broom. From what I've heard and read about it, it's the best broom out there. Here's hoping that this one will do well for you at your next game and a long time to come._

_Love always,_

_Padfoot_

_PS Beware of rats, because you never know when a rat is not just a rat, but a potential traitor. One rat in particular is why I haven't been there for you these past thirteen years._

Excited, Harry ripped open the package and gasped as a magnificent, gleaming broomstick rolled out onto his bedspread. Draco dropped the nut brittle and jumped off his cousin's bed for a closer look. "I don't believe it," he said hoarsely.

It was a Firebolt, identical to the dream broom Harry had gone to see every day in Diagon Alley. Its handle glittered as he picked it up. He could feel it vibrating and let go; it hung in midair, unsupported, at exactly the right height for him to mount it. His eyes moved from the golden registration number at the top of the handle, right down to the perfectly smooth, streamlined birch twigs that made up the tail. "I don't believe it! I thought most of the Marauders were dead!"

"Alright Harry-"

"How do you-"

"Know the Marauders?"

"Wait a minute-"

"Is that a-"

"_Firebolt?_"

"Where did you get it, Harry?" Hermione asked, openly staring at the broom.

"It was one of my Christmas presents." Harry's eyes turned to the Twins as he finished. "And it's from someone called _Padfoot_."

"Are you saying-"

"That you _know_-"

"_The Marauders?_"

"Well, considering the fact that Padfoot calls my dad _Prongs_, and me Prongslet, what do you think?"

The Twins started bowing to Harry when they heard that, calling out "We're not worthy!" Hermione on the other hand looked a little worried. "I'm not sure if anyone should ride that broom yet."

"And just what do you expect him to do with it, Hermione? Sweep the floor?" Draco asked. He looked back at the Firebolt and shook his head. "They might as well just hand you the Quidditch Cup now, Harry. With that broom, no one is going to catch you."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure of that, cuz. You see, I knew Harry was getting this, and yes Mione, I trust Padfoot. Anyway, I got another Firebolt for a Seeker I'm very close too."

"Well then, where is it? Because I've opened all of my presents, and I didn't see a Firebolt among them."

"Now now, Drake, you should know better. You told me yourself last month that you preferred playing Chaser, you're just the best Seeker in Slytherin. I got the other one for Cedric." Draco pouted at his cousin, but Nico and Harry just laughed. Draco pouted even more, but his friends laughter was infectious and he was soon joining them.

At lunchtime they went down to the Great Hall, to find that the House tables had been moved against the walls, and that a single table, set for thirteen, stood in the middle of the room. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Iskander Nichols (the Alchemy teacher,) and Flitwick were there, along with Filch, the caretaker, who had taken off his usual brown coat and was wearing a very old and rather mouldy-looking tailcoat. "Happy Christmas!" said Dumbledore as the four friends approached the table. "As there are so few of us, it seemed foolish to use the House tables… Sit down, sit down!" The four friends quickly sat down next to the only other students there-Cedric and the twins. "Crackers!" said Dumbledore enthusiastically, offering the end of a large silver noisemaker to Snape, who took it reluctantly and tugged. With a bang like a gunshot, the cracker flew apart to reveal a large, pointed witches hat topped with a stuffed vulture. Harry, remembering the Boggart, caught Nico's eyes and they both grinned; Snape obviously remembered as well, as his mouth thinned and he pushed the hat toward Dumbledore, who swapped it for his wizard's hat at once.

Just as Nico finished explaining to his cousin about the Boggart, the Divination Professor, Sybil Trelawney came into the Great Hall, gliding toward them as though on wheels. She had put on a green sequined dress in honour of the occasion, giving the impression of a glittering, oversized dragonfly. Dumbledore stood up to greet her, to which she immediately proclaimed that his doom was certain because "when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die!" Draco and Nico, the only ones who had never had the displeasure of being her students snickered at her flair for the dramatic, while Trelawney promptly glared at the cousins.

She hesitated, then lowered herself into the empty chair, eyes shut and mouth clenched tight, as though expecting a thunderbolt to hit the table. Professor McGonagall poked a large spoon into the nearest tureen. "Tripe, Sybil?"

Professor Trelawney ignored her. Eyes open again, she looked around once more and said, "But where is dear Professor Lupin?"

"I'm afraid the poor fellow is ill again," said Dumbledore, indicating that everybody should start serving themselves. "Most unfortunate that it should happen on Christmas Day."

"But surely you already knew that, Sybil?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyebrows raised.

Professor Trelawney gave Professor McGonagall a very cold look. "Certainly I knew, Minerva," she said quietly. "But one does not parade the fact that one is All-Knowing. I frequently act as though I am not possessed of the Inner Eye, so as not to make others nervous."

"How very . . . Slytherin of you, Professor," Harry said as he fed Basil a piece of turkey.

Trelawney glared at Harry as her voice became something approaching normal. "If you must know, I have seen that poor Professor Lupin will not be with us for very long. He seems aware, himself, that his time is short. He positively fled when I offered to crystal gaze for him —"

"How surprising. Your 'prediction' wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that a Defence teacher hasn't lasted more than a year since the 1950's now, would it?" Draco asked. Trelawney glared at him again, glad that the boy was not one of the few Slytherins that signed up for her class.

"I doubt," said Dumbledore, in a cheerful but slightly raised voice, which put an end to Draco and Professor Trelawney's conversation, "that Professor Lupin is in any immediate danger. Severus, you've made the potion for him again?"

"Yes, Headmaster," said Snape.

"Good," said Dumbledore. "Then he should be up and about in no time." He then turned to Professor Nichols and asked "How is your class going, Kelsey? Any possible new apprentices for you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes there is, and he's sitting here. Mr Grace, what would you say if I offered you a summer job working on creating a Philosopher's Stone? If we succeed, you would gain your Mastery in Alchemy and you could live on your own if you wished."

"NO!" The entire table recoiled at the revulsion and hate in Nico's voice, and only the students knew why, so Nichols asked. "It's quite simple, Professor. Harry here recently received a letter from Nicolas Flamel, and Flamel basically said that he _regretted_ becoming an Alchemist. After reading his notes on making a Stone, I don't blame him, and I must tell you that I am dropping the class immediately."

Nichols looked at Dumbledore and shrugged his shoulders. "Very well, your loss though. Any chance that I could read the papers?"

"No, we burned all of them, and those were the last copies of his work. It was Mr Flamel's last request to Harry." Nichols nearly exploded at the group, which quickly left the Hall. Fortunately, that was the last disturbance of the day, until Draco took the Animagus Potion. After a few minutes unconscious, he woke up and revealed that his form was a red fox. The boys then watched as Harry and Cedric raced their new Firebolts until night had fallen.

**A/N:** First off, credit where credit is due. The Fetura snake is from DoYouMindIfISlytherin's story _Liquida Tenebris_, where it is indeed the species that Nagini is-and draws Harry to the Dark, while the ingredients for the Philosopher's Stone is based on I Am Atrocity's story _Dawn of a Golden Age_. The unicorn blood and hearts is my own addition, however, and I use a more magical number of sacrifices than Atrocity uses. (What is so powerful about one hundred? Seven hundred and seventy-seven is powerful because it is three sevens, two powerful numbers combined into one.) The price for the Firebolt is equal to 268,450 Pounds Sterling in my reality, while the Nimbus is 40,000 Pounds. Those prices are based off the fact that Ron said the Firebolt cost more than seven Nimbus 2001's, or 2011's in my version. Thus, the Firebolt is _extremely_ expensive compared to other brooms.

Basil the Sunbeam Snake 2,500 Pounds as it is an extremely rare snake outside of SE Asia, and Sasha the Garter Snake is a mere 129 Pounds. The idea that Luna's creatures are real and Eldritch horrors from the Cthulhu mythos is based on _Eyes of the Serpent_ by MariusDarkwolf. I added in the note from Sirius because it never made sense that Sirius wants to be close to Harry, yet waited to introduce himself for the Shrieking Shack. This way Harry knows that there is someone who wanted to raise him but was blocked by Dumbledore, and the rat has been hinted at being more than he appears. The Churchill books are real enough, and I am DEFINITELY going to be using quotes from the great statesman in the future of this series and in this story. The potions, well, you'll see the reason for them later. Using the First Year potion, Antidote to Common Poisons makes sense to me to neutralize those potions. While they are not poisons per se, I would expect it to work just as well. As for why Hermione never went to McGonagall, it's simple. Nico said that he trusted Padfoot, and he is one of the few people that she trusts completely.


	9. Patronus Practice

**A/N:** Okay, first off, though I have discontinued this series and am rewriting it, I figured I might as well finish publishing what I had. So, every Sunday, I will publish the remaining chapters of _Altered Fates_ until I finish _Sirius Trouble_. As for chapter notes, the spell that Lily uses is one of my own, but inspired by BBC's show _Merlin_. The incident with the buffalo is naturally inspired by Flitwick's statement in _Philosopher's Stone: Halloween_. The memories that Harry uses for the Patronus are not stated, but I go with the book for that.

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Nine: Patronus Practice**

The day that Christmas holidays ended, Neville dragged his friends to the Room of Requirement to show them something. Once the group was there, Neville concentrated and disappeared, replaced by a large black cougar with blue eyes. "Bloody hell, way to go Neville! When did you manage that?" Nico asked.

Neville quickly changed back and answered "New Year's Day about noon. Boy, was Gran shocked when I did it! I swear, she was more shocked by that then she was by your Howler, and she almost had a heart attack over that!"

"Well, this is a coincidence, because I did the same thing! Watch," Harry said. He also concentrated and with a quick pop, was replaced by a green and silver phoenix. Draco was so shocked that he nearly fell on the floor, had the room not provided a convenient chair for him. He knew that Harry was a Snake in Lion's fur, but seeing it so clearly was almost more than he could handle. Once everyone had recovered and congratulated the duo, they started leaving, all except for Draco and Neville. Draco, who was quickly coming to replace Ron in the group, had kept Neville from leaving and offered him tutoring in Potions, which Neville quickly accepted.

* * *

><p>At seven that Thursday, Professor Lupin walked into the Charms classroom to pick up Nico for the Patronus lessons (he was taking over Nico's from Flitwick, as he had promised lessons to Harry.) He was shocked to find, not Nico, but a <em>buffalo<em> of all things in the room. Curious, the young teacher cautiously walked up to the buffalo, only to find it sitting on his student's chest! He just shook his head, muttering "There's one every year," before vanishing the beast. Lupin then offered his hand to the youth saying "You just had to see if Filius was telling the truth, didn't you?"

"Well, wouldn't you have done the same, Professor? After all you _were_ a Marauder," Nico said, while rubbing his aching chest.

Remus just shook his head. "No, I was the smart one in the group; it was yours and Harry's fathers that were foolish enough to test it. Even Black and Peter knew better than to test that! Come along, we're doing the lessons in my classroom now." Professor Lupin then led him to Filch's office, picking up an old trunk before heading on to his own. Along the way, he asked "So, what have you done for Filius so far?"

"I've done a report on the three kinds of Patroni, including the effectiveness of each and why the corporeal Patroni look the way they do. He's also had me practice a Patronus on my own. I managed to make a shield during the Quidditch match in November, though they were pretty far away, and I had help then."

"Ah, so fairly basic. Well, by the time I'm through with you, you and Harry will both be able to cast Patroni in front of a Dementor." When the two arrived, Harry was there waiting for them. The first thing Lupin asked was "Now, are you two sure about this? This is very advanced magic, well beyond the Ordinary Wizarding Level." Translation, most people their age wouldn't be able to do it. Both boys assured him, so Lupin conceded. "Well, everything's prepared. Now, the spell I'm going to try and teach you is called the Patronus Charm. A Patronus is a positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon - hope, happiness, the desire to survive - but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can't hurt it. For the wizard who conjures one, it can work like a shield, with the Dementor feeding on it rather than him. If the wizard is powerful enough, a Patronus can take on a distinct form and charge down a Dementor, that kind is known as a corporeal Patronus. But in order for it to work, you need to think of a memory. Not just any memory, a very happy memory, a very powerful memory. Can you do this?"

Again, the boys both nodded and he continued. "Very well." Lupin's voice became very mystical as he continued. "Close your eyes. Concentrate. Explore your past. Do you have a memory? Allow it to fill you up, lose yourself within it. Then speak the incantation _Expecto Patronum._" Lupin then called out "Wand at the ready," and opened the trunk for Harry. Harry called out _Expecto Patronum_, but the memory was obviously far too weak, and he collapsed.

"Here we go, come on. Sit up. Deep breaths," was the first thing Harry heard after the memory faded. "It's all right. I didn't expect you to do it the first time. That would have been remarkable. As a matter of interest, what were you thinking? Which memory did you choose?" Lupin asked while handing Harry a Chocolate Frog.

"The first time I rode a broom."

Lupin turned to him in shock. "Well, that's not good enough, not _nearly_ good enough. Try something else." Harry thought for a few minutes, then nodded at Lupin. He lasted a bit longer this time, but he fell harder, and this time, the memory was the longest it had ever been.

_ "Lily, it's him, and he's got Peter with him! Take Harry and get out of here!"_

_ "No! I'm not leaving you, James!"_

_ "Lily, you need to take Harry and run. I'll buy you as much time as I can. Hopefully I can at least take out Wormtail before I die."_

_ "James, stop talking like that! What happened to our plans? What about the brothers and sisters we planned for Harry?"_

_ "My dear, sweet Lily-flower. We have no choice. The wards won't keep Voldemort back for long, and Harry needs you more than he needs me. Who else could balance out Padfoot's influence or teach him potions? Go, Lily. I'll rest easier knowing that you and Harry are alive."_

_ A few minutes passed in near silence, then Lily spoke again. "Longbottom Manor! Come on, why aren't you working? I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. Work, you stupid Portkey! Damn you, Voldemort! Fine, if we can't escape, then I'm going to make sure that you survive, Harry. Be safe, be strong, and know that you are loved. __**Skolir Harry fra dauth. Hilderand Harry fram Aerdeap**__."_

_ Again silence for a couple of minutes, until Voldemort said "Step aside, girl."_

_ "Never, Voldemort. You can take me, but you are not getting my son!"_

_ "Step aside and I will let you live. One of my faithful has asked me to spare your life, but this is your last chance."_

_ "Go ahead and kill me then, Voldemort. I refuse to give up my son."_

_ "Fine then! __**Avada Kedavra**__! So, you're the one that's supposed to defeat me, huh? Well, the prophecy ends tonight._ _**Avada Kedavra**__!"_

"Are you alright?" Harry nodded as he woke up and accepted some more chocolate from Lupin.

"Yeah, but I heard Dad for the first time this go around."

"You heard James?" Lupin asked in a strange voice.

"Yeah. He tried to give Mum and me time to get out, but something happened. I think she tried to Flue out, and then she tried something called a Portkey, but neither worked."

"Yes. Often when Voldemort attacked a home, he would set up anti-Apparition, anti-Flue and anti-Portkey wards around the building so the inhabitants never had a chance to escape. That was one of the main reasons the war took so many lives, very few had a chance to escape," Lupin explained. "Listen Harry, perhaps we should let Nico get a chance now and leave your next try for our next meeting."

"No! I'll have one more go! I'm not thinking of happy enough things, that's what it is... Hang on..." Harry finally picked his third memory and nodded at Lupin. Lupin released the Boggart again, obviously doing this against his better judgement. _However_, this time when Harry called on the Patronus, he created a full-out shield that managed to work enough for him to push the Boggart-Dementor back into the trunk.

"Well done, Harry! Well done indeed, but I think that's enough for you tonight. Nico, your turn." Nico immediately focused on the memory he used at the Quidditch match-meeting Cedric for the first time and finding out he was a wizard. Once again he was able to conjure a shield, but unlike last time, it didn't work very well as he could still hear his mother calling out "Crucio!"

As soon as the Boggart had been pushed back into the trunk, Harry asked Nico "How is it that you managed to do it so quickly?"

"Easy, Harry. I've been working on this with Flitwick for a couple of months. I started out the same way you did, with simple memories, and they only produced wisps of smoke. I figured that wouldn't work so well against a Dementor, so I kept trying memories, looking for one that would produce more than smoke."

Lupin interrupted then, saying "Yes, well, I think you still need to find a better memory. Still, that was a very good start. We'll meet again on Saturday and meet once a week after that. Sound good?" Both boys nodded and left for the dorms.

* * *

><p>That Saturday was a first for Harry and his friends, as they cheered for Slytherin during their game against Ravenclaw. After a long, hard fought battle, Draco finally managed to win the game for Slytherin with a final score of 480-390. Over the next few weeks, while Draco was tutoring Neville in Potions, Nico and Harry continued their Patronus practice against the Boggart-Dementor, but without much progress. While Neville was improving by leaps and bounds, even in front of Snape, Nico and Harry's only improvement was that they weren't fainting in front of the Dementor-Boggart any more. To make things even worse, Ron believed that Crookshanks (Hermione's pet catkneazle mix) had eaten Scabbers, which Hermione vehemently denied. When Harry suggested that just maybe it was possible that Crookshanks didn't do it, especially considering his and Neville's snakes, Ron blew up at him saying "Go ahead and take her side then, I knew you would! You always do these days! Get out of my sight, Potter, I don't want to see or talk to you ever again!" Harry stared in shock at the Ron's back as he stormed off.

When Draco heard about the incident, he just shook his head. "You should have taken my hand that day, Harry. I warned you that the Weasel was the wrong sort, but you just _had _to be stubborn."

"Oh, so you knew something like this would happen?"

"No, but from what I know about him, I suspected that he didn't really want to be your friend."

Harry stared at him in confusion. "How? How long have you known him?"

"Since we were six years old, and we've hated each other for that long as well. It's a bit of a long story, so please don't ask." Harry nodded and turned the discussion towards their lessons. "Neville's doing great! He's a natural at potions, even more so than I hear Sev and your mum were! He could probably take the potions OWL right now and pass, so long as he was given the instructions. By the end of the year, I'll have him making a Draught of Living Death, or I'll kiss your snake!"

"He's doing that good?"

"You have no idea, Harry. I swear, that boy has a natural talent on making potions better than the official instructions. Every time I have him make one, it turns out better than I've ever seen. Why, I heard a rumour that Madame Pomfrey is using Nev's potions in the Hospital Wing these days."

"I wish that our Patronus lessons were going that well."

"What do you mean, Harry?" Draco asked. Nico had been strangely silent about the lessons when talking to him, so he had no idea what was going on.

"The lessons started off well enough, but we haven't made any progress all month. The most we can do is a basic shield, and I know we should be proud that we can manage even that, but we both want a corporeal Patronus."

Draco thought about it for a while before finally saying "It sounds like you two have a confidence problem. You don't believe you can do a corporeal because of the lack of progress, so you _can't_ do a corporeal. Neville had the same problem in our tutoring sessions. Sev had spent so much time belittling him in the lessons that he couldn't make a proper potion. Took me a whole week to undo that enough that he could do a proper Boils Cure, after that it was easy." Then he got a gleam in his eye, the same gleam that the Twins had after a particularly good idea for a prank. "Harry, I've got a plan to help you out, but I may need your help in it."

"How's that?"

"Well, it may get me in trouble with the teachers, so, when I do it, could you bail me out?"

"If I recognize it, sure."

* * *

><p>The day of the Ravenclaw-Gryffindor match, Oliver made Harry reveal his Firebolt to the rest of the school, and nearly everyone was thunderstruck by the sight of the international standard broom. Percy even bragged about it to his Ravenclaw girlfriend, while telling her not to sabotage it. He then whispered to Harry that he had better win the match because he had laid a ten Galleon bet on the match, even though he didn't have the money to pay up if he lost. When Draco came by, he almost acted like his old, prattish self. "Got plenty of special features, hasn't it? Too bad it doesn't come with a parachute-in case you get too close to a Dementor."<p>

Harry grinned back and said "Too bad you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Draco, then it could catch the Snitch for you."

Draco stared at him in shock, before bursting out laughing, much to the surprise of everyone listening in. "Great comeback, Harry! Good luck with the match, though I really doubt you'll need it. Like I said at Christmas, they might as well hand you the Quidditch Cup now." Harry just smiled at his friend while Draco walked back to the Slytherin table, where he was certain they were dying to ask if Harry really had a Firebolt.

At eleven o'clock, the match started, and Harry was pleasantly surprised to notice that the Ravenclaw Seeker Cho Chang, despite being a year older than Harry was still a head shorter than him. As always, the commentary was being provided by Lee Jordan, who kept trying to talk about Harry's Firebolt while McGonagall kept stopping him in order for him to get back to the match. Ignoring the interesting chatter, Harry kept an eye out for the Snitch, but Chang seemed intent on following him and blocking him whenever it seemed like he had caught sight of the Snitch. Well, if she was going to follow him, she would just have to take the consequences.

Making sure that Chang was watching, Harry faked spotting the Snitch and dove for the ground, making sure to go slow enough that Chang's Comet 260 could keep up. They grew closer and closer to the ground until Chang was starting to panic, but she didn't dare break off. At the last second, Harry levelled off, his knees just brushing the grass. Chang wasn't as lucky as she ploughed into the ground. "And Chang falls for a perfectly executed Wronski Feint pulled off by Potter! By Merlin, I didn't even know Wood dared to teach that move!" A Wronski Feint? Hmm, Harry would have to ask Oliver how that officially worked, it seemed like a great strategy.

With Chang out of the picture, Harry had plenty of time to spot the Snitch, but before he could, he spotted a trio of Dementors moving onto the field. Without even thinking about it, Harry whipped his wand out and shouted "_Expecto Patronum!_" quickly focusing on thoughts of his friends. Turning back to the field, he quickly spotted the Snitch flying just above the Ravenclaw goals and Harry pushed the Firebolt to it's maximum speed. There was no way he was giving Chang a chance to get back up. Before Chang could get more than five feet off the ground, Harry had caught the Snitch, ending the game with a Gryffindor victory, (final score of 280-40,) and they still had a chance for the Quidditch Cup. The rest of the team rushed him and started hugging him so hard it felt like his ribs had cracked. Wood quickly promised to teach Harry how to do a Wronski Feint properly, shocked that Harry had done that without any practice.

When they landed, Harry noticed a bit of a commotion at the end of the field, and his curiosity got the better of him. When he arrived, he heard McGonagall saying "An unworthy trick! A deliberate attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker!" Looking closely, Harry could see Draco, Theodore Nott, Marcus Flint and Crabbe all tangled in robes that could easily pass as Dementor robes. Harry was shocked to find Draco in the midst of so many Slytherins that hated him, but then he thought of the conversation they'd had only a few days before.

McGonagall was about to hand out punishments when Harry called out "WAIT!"

"Mr Potter, I hope you have a good reason to interrupt."

"I need to speak to Draco before you hand out his punishment, please." McGonagall looked him straight in the eye before nodding and letting Draco go with him. Once they had gotten far enough away, Harry turned to Draco and said "You had better have done that for the reason I think you did, otherwise this friendship is over, Draco."

Apparently Draco didn't hear him because he just ran up to Harry before hugging him and saying "You did it, Harry! You did it!"

"Did what?"

"Your Patronus, Harry! You did it!"

"What are you talking about?"

"A corporeal Patronus! You did it! Your Patronus _is a stag!_ I told you I'd help you out!"

Harry started at that. "You're joking."

"Does it look like I'm joking? You did it!"

Harry looked straight in his eyes, and believed Draco. With eyes that expressive, there was no way he was lying, and he definitely did it for Harry. "Well then, let's not keep Minnie waiting."

Draco stared at Harry. "Minnie?"

"My dad came up with the nickname, now come on!" When they got back to McGonagall, Harry told her "Professor, Draco did it under the best of intentions, and if you wish my opinion, I would suggest fifty points to Slytherin for such a cunning, ambitious and successful plan to help out a friend."

McGonagall gaped at Harry's suggestion, but went along with it. After all, Slytherin had already lost ninety points for the incident, and Gryffindor would still be in the lead. Harry was then carried off the field by the Gryffindors, where they headed for Gryffindor Tower and a party that would last long into the night.

Draco was heading off to the dungeons when he was pulled inside an empty classroom, only to be confronted by Cedric Diggory. "Alright, Malfoy, what do you think you were doing out there?"

"What are you talking about?"

"With the Dementor outfits, of course! What were you doing?"

"I was fulfilling a promise." The prefect stuck his wand at Draco's throat, so he quickly explained. "I promised Harry I would help him out with his Patronus lessons! I figured the best way to do that was to prove that he could cast a corporeal Patronus would be if he cast it at a fake Dementor. I didn't tell him my full plan, otherwise it wouldn't have worked as well, all I told him was that my plan could get me in trouble and he said he'd bail me out if it did. That's all, I swear!"

Cedric lowered his wand and apologized. "Sorry, Draco, but I love Harry, and while I don't know anything for certain, I'm pretty sure that he hasn't had anyone to watch out for him since _that _Halloween. I want to be there for him, and you dressed up as a Dementor during a match, knowing what they do to him . . ."

"And it was too much for you not to act?" Cedric nodded. "I'd have probably done the same. You're not the only one who loves Harry." Cedric started at that, but Draco quickly explained. "Don't worry, I know his heart belongs to you, sometimes you're all he can talk about. I'm only there as a close friend and confidant. I know I have no chance with Harry as long as you're around, that's why I've started dating a First Year Slytherin girl that apparently had a crush on me."

"Oh, okay. What's her name?"

"Astoria Greengrass, she's the half-blood half-sister of one of my classmates, Daphne."

"Oh, I thought all you Slytherins were blood supremacists."

"Slytherin Rule Number Five: blood matters, ability matters more, and Rule Number Seven: Slytherin does _not_ mean Junior Death Eater."

"You have rules about that kind of thing?"

"Of course. Every Slytherin is taught them by the end of our first full day here. I think you'd like our Rule Number Eight: loyalty is not just for Hufflepuffs." Cedric just laughed and left the room, while Draco shook his head. How could his cousin like the boy when he was clearly crazy, and what in Merlin's name did Harry see in him? There were times when he almost wished that he _hadn't_ given up on Harry so quickly.

**A/N:** The Slytherin House Rules are taken directly from Dethryl's _They Shook Hands: Year One_, one of the best AU's I've read based on the idea that Harry and Draco became friends in Madame Malkin's shop. What changed there was that after Draco mentioned his family had always been in Slytherin, he asked what Harry's name was instead of insulting Hufflepuff. The changes just build from there into a similar, yet radically different and, at least so far, better life for Harry. Dethryl has currently finished the alternate Goblet of Fire and is working on Year 5. The two spells are of my own making. The first, _Skolir Harry fra dauth_ is a Norse spell based on the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini and it literally means _Shield Harry from death._ The second spell is a Celtic spell based on BBC's Merlin and it means Shield Harry from an untimely/early death.


	10. A Grudge and Explorations

**A/N:** Quick note here: _Italics_ is Parseltongue, while _underlined italics_ are quotes.

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Ten: A Grudge and Explorations**

On the night of April 10, 2004, a few weeks after the match against Ravenclaw, Harry was looking at the Marauder's Map fairly late, watching for Sirius Black when Weasley woke up from a nightmare talking about spiders wanting him to tap-dance. When Weasley went back to sleep though, Harry spotted something that could prove the Malfoys right: Peter Pettigrew. Curious, and intent on getting answers, Harry decided to hunt down Pettigrew and find out how he was alive. But when Harry got to the same corridor as Pettigrew, Pettigrew went right past him, and Harry saw nothing. Before he could figure out how, he spotted Snape's name on the map and quickly whispered out "Mischief managed."

Snape quickly caught up to him and asked "What are you doing wandering the corridors at night?"

"I was sleepwalking."

"How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter. He too was exceedingly arrogant, strutting about the castle."

"I _don't_ strut about, and I'd have thought that Draco would tell you that I'm not arrogant, Professor. Now if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you could lower your wand." Harry would have defended his father as well, but Mr Grace's journal had quite clearly stated that his father, while a loyal friend, also had one of the biggest heads in the school.

Snape, intent on punishing Harry for something, demanded "Turn out your pockets." Since he only had the now-blank map, Harry obeyed. "What's this?"

"Spare bit of parchment."

"Really? Open it." Once Harry had followed his orders, Snape touched his wand to it and said "Reveal your secrets." Nothing happened. Snape tapped it harder, saying "Show yourself!" Still nothing. Now quite upset, Snape hit the map hard calling out "Professor Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!" Immediately, lines started appearing, one after the other, as though six people were living inside the map and had decided to respond to Snape's demand. Each line, though similar in content, was written with a slightly different style of handwriting. The comments were similar enough to believe that they knew each other, yet the handwriting was obviously different enough that it had to be six people.

_** "Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."**_

_** "Mr Spike would like to suggest that Professor Snape go back and play with his chemistry set."**_

_** "Mr. Prongs agrees with Mssrs Moony and Spike and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git."**_

_** "Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor."**_

_** "Ms Buck would like to remind Mr Padfoot that Snape made a very worthy adversary."**_

_** "Mr. Wormtail would like to thank Ms Buck for her reminder and bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball."**_

Snape was extremely furious when he read it, while Harry could barely contain his laughter, and if it weren't for Lupin's timely arrival, Harry was sure that he would have been at least jinxed, if not hexed or cursed. "Harry, you alright?"

"That remains to be seen." Snatching the map back, Snape handed it to Lupin claiming "I have just now confiscated a rather curious artefact from Mr Potter. Take a look Lupin, it's supposed to be your area of expertise. Clearly it's full of Dark Magic."

Lupin read the still-shining writing, and if Harry was reading him right, he was doing some rather quick thinking. "I seriously doubt it, Severus. It looks to me as though it's merely a parchment designed to insult anyone who tries to read it. I suspect it's a Zonko product. Nevertheless, I shall investigate any hidden qualities it may possess. It is, after all, as you say, my area of expertise. Harry, would you come with me please? Professor, good night." Lupin then lead Harry to his classroom before turning to him. "Now, I haven't the faintest idea, Harry, of how this map came to be in your possession as I happen to know it was confiscated by Filch about fifteen years ago. Yes, I know it's a map. But quite frankly, I am astounded that you didn't hand it in. Did it never occur to you that this, in the hands of Sirius Black, is a map to you?"

To be honest, Harry _hadn't _thought of that, but he didn't say so. "Professor, that map is one of the two things that I have that belonged to my father. I wouldn't have willingly handed it in even if it meant I could never fly again. Besides, I've heard a good argument that Sirius might be innocent."

"Too much like his mother," Lupin whispered as he shook his head. "Black is guilty, Harry, there is no doubt of that in my mind."

"Well there is plenty in mine."

"You know, your father never set much store by the rules, either. But he and your mother gave their lives to save yours. And gambling their sacrifice by wandering around the castle unprotected with a killer on the loose seems to me a pretty poor way to repay them! Now, I will not cover up for you again, Harry. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, sir." Harry's estimation of what had been his favourite professor plummeted quite a bit with that statement. Lupin had claimed to be friends with his parents, yet didn't even think that a fellow friend of his father's could be innocent of the crime he'd been charged with? A crime that most said would have been out of the realm of possibility of the perpetrator? Then to guilt-trip him like that because he, Harry, wanted answers? Sure, Sirius was supposed to be a cold-blooded killer, but where were the witnesses?

Lupin started talking again, clearly seeing the defiance in Harry's Avada-green eyes. "I want you to return to your dormitory and stay there. And don't take any detours. If you do, I shall know," Lupin said, tapping the map.

Harry had made it to the door before he turned around. "Professor, just so you know, I was out of bed because it showed someone in the castle. Someone who's supposed to be dead, if Sirius _is_ guilty."

"Oh, really? And who might that be?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

Lupin turned to face Harry, disbelief clearly showing on his face. "That is _not _possible," he firmly stated.

"It's what I saw, so unless the Map makes mistakes, he was there. Good night, professor." Harry then stepped out of the classroom, before falling to the ground, his eyes feeling like they were on fire. Lupin quickly rushed to Harry and carried him to the Hospital Wing.

A few minutes after they arrived, and after deadening the pain, Madame Pomfrey was chiding Harry. "Basilisk venom, Mr Potter. If you had just come and visited me after you received the bite, I could have prevented this. But no, you insist on staying away and dealing with it on your own."

"But Fawkes healed me, Madame Pomfrey. I thought he took care of it," Harry objected.

"Phoenix tears only eliminate the poison in the venom, Mr Potter, it does not eliminate the venom. Unfortunately, you are the first person to have survived the bite of a Basilisk, so I have no idea what it's effects will be. Luckily for you, it appears to have been only beneficial." Lupin demanded to know what could possibly be beneficial about feeling like your eyes were on fire. "Unfortunately, that appears to be part of the change. His eyes are quickly changing to match a snakes' eyes-slit pupils and very little white. You see, Harry, your eyes are now better than any I have ever scanned, including that of a werewolf's, who are supposed to have the best eyesight of any land creature. And considering the Basilisk is a snake, I would guess that your senses of taste and smell would also get much better. Also, your musculature and skeletal structure seem to be a lot tougher and stronger than they were when I treated you after the Dementor attack, and exponentially more so than when that idiot vanished your bones. However, I would like to keep you under observation for the weekend."

"But Madame Pomfrey, Nico was also bitten by the Basilisk. Why hasn't he been affected by it?" Madame Pomfrey had no answer to that, and just repeated her demand that Harry stay in the Hospital Wing for the weekend.

* * *

><p>Well, Harry wasn't going to stand for that, so when Draco went to visit him the next day, Harry was nowhere to be found. When he asked his cousin, Nico had no idea where he was either, and he mentioned that Harry was not in the dorm, so Draco just went exploring. Draco finally stumbled upon Harry inside the Room of Requirement, laughing at something he was reading. "Hey, Harry. What's so funny?"<p>

"Just a tale in this book. The guy in here could easily be a Slytherin, if he weren't a Muggle. Listen. _'A reporter once asked him what led him into politics. "Ambition," he replied. "Pure, unadulterated ambition." "What keeps you in politics?" was his next question.. "Anger. Pure, unadulterated anger."'_ Doesn't that sound like a Slytherin?"

"Yeah, it does. Who's the Muggle?"

"Our greatest Muggle Prime Minister, Winston Churchill."

Draco started laughing at that. "Churchill? A . . . a Muggle? You're joking, right Harry?"

"Um, no. Why?"

"Oh, Harry, they have really kept you in the dark, haven't they? Come on, you _really_ need to see something." Draco then lead Harry down to a section of the castle that he had never been in: the area directly beneath Gryffindor Tower. Once they were inside the dungeons beneath the tower, Draco started counting off the suits of armour before pausing directly in-between two of them. Then, to Harry's shock, he heard Draco hiss out _"Open"_ in a language that as far as he knew, only he and Neville spoke: Parseltongue. The wall opened up while Draco turned and said "You have no idea how long it took me to convince Nico to teach me that word, nor how long it took me to get them to agree to a Parseltongue password."

"Them?" Harry asked, only to gasp in shock at what was revealed: an extremely long corridor that seemed to stretch on forever. And on both walls were numerous portraits, so many that they seemed to be beyond count.

Following Draco inside, he was shocked to recognize the first four portraits: the Founders. "Harry, welcome to Godric Gryffindor's Chamber of Secrets, more properly known as the Hall of Greats. You recognize, of course, the Founders. Milords and ladies, allow me to introduce Harry James Potter, the boy I've told you so much about."

"So, this is the boy that has brought my house so much honour! Glad to meet you!" Godric Gryffindor called out.

"Come here, let me take a closer look at you," Salazar said. Once Harry did so, Salazar studied him. _"Hmm, so you're the Parselmouth who ended up a Gryffindor. Tell me, how is it that you ended up in Godric's House and not mine?"_

_ "Because of my own immaturity, Lord Slytherin. Draco here was trying to become my friend, but because he acted like his father, I turned him down. Between the way Draco was acting and the news that Voldemort was a Slytherin, I asked the Hat to put me anywhere __**but **__Slytherin. For that, I am sorry."_

_ "I don't mind, I was just curious as to how you ended up there, especially considering you're one of my descendants."_ Harry stared at him in shock while Salazar turned to Draco and started speaking in English again. "Draco, who is this Voldemort character that Harry mentioned? Why haven't you told us about him before?"

"I have, milord. He is the Dark Lord I told you about. Most call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who. Harry is one of the few people who calls him by his real name."

Rowena huffed at that. "Please, Voldemort is obviously a fake name. Who would name their child 'flight from death'? Does anybody know his _real_ name?"

To Draco's shock, Harry answered "His real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, a half-blood, born to a witch and a Muggle. He has also claimed the title 'The Heir of Slytherin.' In 1944, during his Fifth Year, he used a Basilisk to attack Muggleborns, then he used a Horcrux to do it again last year."

"HE WHAT!" Salazar shouted loudly. Yet the portrait next to him remained asleep. Whoever was inside was definitely a sound sleeper. "He attacked Muggleborns under MY NAME and using my beloved Eithne? Then he goes and makes a Horcrux? He is no heir of mine! Mr Potter, I want you to go down to my Chamber and claim lordship over House Slytherin, immediately! Once you have claimed the title of Baron Slytherin, a silver ring should appear on your left middle finger. It will have a carved snake with small emeralds for eyes."

"How can I? I'm not one of your descendants."

"Oh no? Then how can you speak Parseltongue? It's quite rare for British wizards to be Parselmouths. Then there's your eyes. They are a genetic marker for all my magical descendants."

"What are you talking about? Plenty of wizards have emerald green eyes."

"Yes, but your eyes turn the colour of the Killing Curse when you're mad, don't they?"

Draco quickly answered, saying "Definitely. You have no idea how many times I've had those eyes on me. It was getting so that I was starting to think that it was his natural colour. No offence, Harry."

"None taken. But if I'm a Slytherin by blood, then how could I use Gryffindor's sword? Dumbledore said that only a true Gryffindor could have pulled it from the Sorting Hat."

"Oh, that's quite simple, my boy. Anyone with enough courage to be in my house can pull the sword from my hat," Godric explained. He then turned to Salazar and said "I told you my enchantment would work! Merlin _did_ know what he was doing with Excalibur after all, so why did you think it wouldn't work with the Hat?"

"Because Merlin's enchantment only required that a certain person be able to pull it from a stone, Godric! Yours not only required a certain person be able to pull it out, but that it could be pulled from wherever it was at the time instead of keeping it in the hat!"

"So there's no chance of me being Godric's descendant?"

The Founders then turned to Helga. "No, you're not. You're the heir to Salazar on your mother's side, and the heir to three Houses on your father's side, but none are Godric's. I believe that the only house that still has Godric's blood is the Weasley family."

Well, that wasn't surprising, considering the fact that every Weasley had been sorted into Gryffindor, despite at least one member being more suited to another. "Assuming I do claim the title of Lord Slytherin, what will that do for me?"

"Simple, my boy. You will be considered of age in our world, and you will also be able to control who the Head of Slytherin is, and you have some influence when it comes to hiring teachers. You will also gain control of my vault and manor, out in the fens. Also, you can pass the ring on to the next of my descendants that you wish to inherit the title."

"I see." Then Harry noticed something he _really_ should have noticed earlier. "Salazar, do you realize that you don't look much like your bust in the Chamber?" While the bust looked vaguely monkey-like, Salazar himself was actually quite handsome, if a little intimidating. (And, irritatingly, with Harry's emerald green eyes as well as other similar features).

"The bust? You thought that was me?" Salazar started laughing at that. "That's not me! That's the bust of Rowena's father, the man that allowed us to turn his castle into a school!"

Harry then turned to the other founders and asked, "Wait, why aren't you surprised about the Basilisk?"

The four portraits all started laughing, this time, loud enough to wake the fifth portrait. A male voice called out "Would you keep it down, please? My husband and I would like to go back to sleep."

Godric laughed again. "Arthur Pendragon, if you two would just stop going at each other like rabbits in heat, you might actually be awake when we have visitors."

While Arthur blushed and woke his husband (which both Draco and Harry were confused about,) Rowena explained. "We knew about the Basilisk from day one. Salazar hatched Eithne to protect my castle should Arthur's father, Uther ever find out about it. King Uther Pendragon hated magic with a passion ever since his wife died because of magic. He hunted all of us down and Salazar suffered the worst of all of us as he actually lived in Uther's realm. It wasn't until Arthur met Merlin that Arthur started to stop believing his father about magic."

"Yes, thank God. Luckily Merlin trusted me enough to tell me about his gift, otherwise who knows what would have happened." The two boys turned back to Arthur's portrait, where he was now sitting on a couch with another young man, one that was now dressed in a blue shirt and green scarf and hair that was truly black, not just a dark brown like Harry's. "If he hadn't told me, we definitely wouldn't have gotten married," Arthur said as he kissed the other boy, who was now blushing madly.

"Arthur! We have company!"

"I know, but I do love you, my hawk."

"I love you too, clot-pole, but I don't think it's appropriate to shag in front of company."

"Come on, Merlin, you don't mind when it's Salazar or the others."

Harry interrupted their argument there. "Wait a minute, _you're _Merlin? I thought that you had a long white beard and wore robes as odd as Dumbledore."

Both boys in the portrait started laughing. "I told you that Dragoon disguise would come back to haunt you one day, Merlin!"

"I know, but I have to know, is that _really_ how people see me these days?"

"For the most part," Draco answered. "But I thought that you were married to Guinevere, your Majesty?"

"First, call me Arthur. Only my subjects call me Majesty. Second, are you kidding? Gwen was in love with Lancelot, never me. We got married in our world so that I would have a queen, while Lord Slytherin married us in the magical world so we could be with the ones we love. Unfortunately Lancelot died before he and Guinevere could be married."

"What about Mordred? We all heard that he was the son of you and Morgana."

Arthur and Merlin's eyes darkened when Draco mentioned Morgana. "I could never cheat on Merlin, even if I was enchanted, especially not on my half-sister. Morgana definitely treated Mordred as if he were her son, but Mordred was a Druid and Celtic. We are Britons, with a little Roman heritage somewhere in the line."

"What do you mean you couldn't cheat on Merlin?" Harry asked.

"Arthur and I have a soul bond, Harry. No matter what kind of magic was put on us, we couldn't cheat unless we wanted to, and that could never happen."

"Huh, interesting. Oh, and Lord Slytherin? Dumbledore said that Riddle transferred some of his powers to me the night he attacked me and nearly died. How do you know that's not why I seem like your descendant?"

"You actually believed that? Abilities like Parseltongue are passed down through our blood, and nothing done that night could have given you Parseltongue."

"So you are a blood supremacist?"

"No! My wife Isobel was a Muggleborn, same with my mother. I just think that Muggleborns should either have a school just for them or that they should be raised in our world from birth. Muggles, for the most part, are a threat to us, and Muggleborns force us to reveal ourselves to some of them."

Draco interrupted before a real debate could start. He had been visiting the Hall of Greats for more than a year and knew only too well how the portraits loved to debate. "Yes, that's all fascinating milord, but I do need to continue Harry's tour." He quickly dragged Harry away before saying "Sorry, but if they started a debate with you, we could still be here by the time our grandchildren were coming to Hogwarts."

"How would you know?"

"I've been coming down here ever since the first weekend of our Second Year. The portraits usually give out some pretty good advice." Harry quickly learned why it was called the Hall of Greats instead of the Hall of Heroes, as Draco introduced him to portraits of several Dark wizards and witches on the walls in addition to the heroes of Magical Britain. In addition to the Founders, Merlin and Arthur, there was the Gryffindor Emeric the Evil, Phineas Nigellus Black-the most hated Hogwarts Headmaster in history (and one of the few Slytherin Heads,) Queen Elizabeth Tudor-the last witch-queen of Britain and her mother Anne Boleyn-both of whom were former Slytherins, Hufflepuff Dilys Derwent, Armando Dippet-Dumbledore's predecessor as Headmaster and former Ravenclaw, and several dozen Ministers of Magic before Draco stopped again. "Harry, allow me to introduce to you to the only man to hold the office of Minister of Magic and Prime Minister at the same time, the leader of the British nation against both Hitler and Grindelwald: Sir Winston Spencer Churchill of Slytherin House, class of 1892. Milord, allow me to introduce to you Harry James Potter, the boy made famous for being the only person to survive the Killing Curse."

Harry stared in disbelief. Sure enough, there was the man who had quickly become his hero. _Winston Spencer Churchill, Slytherin Prefect, Former Minister of Magic and Prime Minister 1940-1945. Prime Minister 1951-1955 Born: 1874, Died 1965._ "It's an honour to meet you, Mr Churchill."

"And it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Potter. Tell me, why has Mr Malfoy brought you down here specifically to see me?"

"Because you are my hero, Mr Churchill, and I believed you to be a Muggle."

"And why am I your hero?"

"This past Christmas, the noted alchemist Nicolas Flamel sent me two books of quotations that you said. They sent them to me because they think I could be your successor, especially considering we have another Dark Lord running around, and he is intent on killing me. Mr Flamel thinks I could easily become the voice of the British nation against him."

"And what do you think?"

"I think that I could do it a lot easier with those books than without them, sir."

"You would probably be right, Mr Potter. _It is a good thing for a young man to read books of quotations.-'"_

_ "__'-The quotations when engraved upon the memory give good thoughts.'_ I know, that's one that I have definitely memorized."

"Continue to memorize them, Mr Potter and you will go far as an orator."

Draco interrupted again, saying "Sorry, Mr Churchill, but there is one more portrait that I wanted to show Harry."

"Very well, but come back soon, Mr Potter."

"I will, sir." As they left, Harry asked "If Churchill was a wizard, then why did he die so young? I know that Headmaster Dipper didn't die until he was over 300 years old."

"Just because our magic allows us to live quite a bit longer than Muggles doesn't mean we can't die at an age believable to be a Muggle. There are several diseases that we can't cure and Churchill died of one of them: Dragon Pox. We still don't have a cure for it, my grandfather died of it about five years before we met."

"Oh, I'm sorry Draco. I guess it's because we live so long that makes it so hard for us to accept change?"

"Yeah, it is. But sometimes change happens _too_ quickly. Before the Statute of Secrecy, my family _loved_ mixing with Muggles, assuming they were rich enough. But after it, we pretty much cut ourselves off from the Muggle world."

"Only 'pretty much'?"

"Yeah, we still own quite a bit of stock in several Muggle companies. Even Father must admit that there are some things that Muggles do better than us, like shoes."

"I can see that. We don't have much need to walk places with brooms and the Flue." Harry was looking around at the portraits when he asked "Hey, where's Tom Riddle's portrait? It should be right around here."

Draco looked, and sure enough, there was no portrait for Tom Riddle anywhere in the 1940's section of graduates. "Who knows? There are several portraits throughout the Hall that should be here yet aren't. Up ahead though is another portrait with a married couple, one that I'm sure would make you want to come back here, even without the others we've met. Ah, here we are."

The portrait he stopped in front of was one of the last portrait in the hall, and Draco was right, Harry _would_ have come back here just for this one. "Mum? Dad?"

"Harry! Oh, you've grown so much! You look so much like your father, you know?"

"Yeah, that's the most common thing for me to hear, that I look just like Dad but I have your eyes."

"Hey, Harry. How's Quidditch?"

"It's great, Dad. We're favourites for the Cup this year-"

"More like every year since you joined, Harry."

"True, Draco. But this year is going to be our year."

"What position do you play?"

"Seeker, ever since First Year."

"And the best in the school. Only one person has managed to beat Harry to the Snitch in all the games he's played, and that was because of the Dementors."

"Dementors! What are Dementors doing at Hogwarts?" Lily asked.

"Sirius Black broke out of Azkaban-"

"Azkaban? What was Padfoot doing there?"

"Well, Mr Potter, Black is the one who was accused of betraying you to the Dark Lord."

For the first time, James took a close look at Draco. "Oh, it's you. Are you finally going to tell us who you are, young man?"

"Dad, this is Draco Malfoy, one of my newest and best friends, and my number one rival at Quidditch. He's my opposite on the Slytherin team."

"Hmm, then you'd be Lucius' son? Well, if Harry trusts you, then I guess I'll be nice. But what are you talking about with Sirius? He couldn't have betrayed us!"

"Well, Mr Potter, first, when was this painted?"

"We had it painted on October 30, 1990, why?"

"Okay, then you'll know what I'm talking about. Uncle Sirius is believed to have been your Secret-Keeper and betrayed you the day after this was painted."

"Ha! I told you we couldn't trust that rat, James! I told you that Pettigrew being a rat was bad news!"

"Uh, Mum, what are you talking about?"

"Simple, dear. Sirius was never our Secret-Keeper, it was Peter Pettigrew, a rat Animagus."

"A rat? Bloody hell, that's even worse than Weasel's! How did you trust him? A rat is notorious for being untrustworthy."

"Well, Malfoy-"

"Draco, Dad. He's not his father and _he is one of my best friends_."

"-Draco, Wormy had been our friend since First Year. Eric didn't trust him after we took the potion, but then again, he never really trusted him in the first place. And what did you mean about it being worse than a weasel's?"

"Weasel is Draco's nickname for one of my former friends, Ron Weasley, who's Animagus form is, ironically enough, a weasel."

"Harry James Potter! Are you saying that you're learning to become an Animagus?"

"Mum! I want to be more like you guys, so when I found out that Dad was one, well of course I wanted to do it."

"Well, how far are you?" To answer his dad, Harry instantly changed to Flash and back again. "Huh, that's interesting. A Gryffindor with a Slytherin-coloured Animagus form. Are any of your friends Animagi?"

"Draco is the last one to have taken the potion, and he's working on becoming a fox. Hermione Granger-a Muggleborn a lot like you Mum, is going to be an owl, Nico Grace is a Golden Eagle, while Neville Longbottom is a cougar. Nico and Neville have both finished their changes."

"You're friends with Neville? Then I guess that means that Frank and Alice raised you?"

Harry was confused at that. "Nooo, I was raised by Aunt Petunia." To Harry and Draco's shock, Lily's eyes went Avada-green and she very nearly exploded with rage while James just dived for cover behind a couch. "Mum? What's wrong?"

Once she had calmed down, Lily asked "Who sent you there, Harry?"

"Hagrid did, under Dumbledore's orders, why?"

Lily's rage went off again and she walked out of the portrait. James then explained "Harry, you were never to go to Petunia. We had a very specific list of people for you to go to, and even if none of them were left, we said you were to go to the family of a Muggleborn that would take you in. We specifically stated that you were _never _to go to Petunia. Dumbledore _knew_ that, he was one of our witnesses."

Draco shook his head. "I told you, Harry. Dumbledore obviously wanted you there so you'd be easily manipulated." He then checked his watch and said "We better hurry, dinner starts in about fifteen minutes. We _will_ be back, Mr Potter, I promise."

"We won't have time, will we?"

"Don't worry, Harry. This end comes out right next to the Slytherin dorm, we have just enough time to make it."

* * *

><p>While Draco was taking Harry on the tour of the Hall of Greats, Nico was in Ravenclaw Tower. His Ghost Diary-a book that listed how every ghost in Hogwarts died, was nearly done. All that was left for him was the Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady, and the Baron had said that their deaths were intertwined. Before he even dared to ask her how they died, Nico made sure to find out what made her mad, and one of those things was calling her the Grey Lady. She hated the name and preferred to go by her name in life: Helena Ravenclaw, the daughter of Rowena. "Milady, could you wait, please? I wish to speak to you for a minute."<p>

"You seek my mother's diadem. I cannot help you."

"Wait! While I am curious about the diadem's location, that isn't what I want to talk to you about. I'm here to ask you how you and the Baron died."

"The diadem and our deaths are intertwined. You cannot ask about one without the other."

"Helena, if it's necessary, then tell me about the diadem, but I'm not interested in it. I just want to find out how every ghost in the castle died, and you two are the last."

"Very well. I stole my mother's diadem. I sought to make myself cleverer, more important than my mother. I ran away with it. My mother, they say, never admitted that the diadem was gone, but pretended that she had it still. She concealed her loss, my dreadful betrayal, even from the other founders of Hogwarts. Then my mother fell ill - fatally ill. In spite of my perfidy, she was desperate to see me one more time. She sent a man who had long loved me, though I spurned his advances, to find me. She knew that he would not rest until he had done so."

"The Bloody Baron."

"Yes, Baron James Rothschild. Not one of Salazar's children, but definitely one of his top students. He tracked me to the forest where I was hiding. When I refused to return with him, he became violent. The baron was always a hot-tempered man. Furious at my refusal, jealous of my freedom, he stabbed me." She lifted aside the cloak she wore to reveal a single dark wound in her white chest. "When he saw what he had done, he was overcome with remorse. He took the weapon that had claimed my life, and used it to kill himself. All these centuries later, he wears our blood as chains as an act of penitence ... as he should." she added bitterly. "The diadem remained in the hollow of the tree in Albania that I hid it in. But then, some years ago, a strange boy with a strange name asked me about it."

A strange boy with a strange name? And Albania . . . where Voldemort was last seen. "The boy, was his name Tom Riddle?"

"Yes, he swore to destroy it, but he lied."

"He's lied to many people."

"I KNOW WHAT HE'S DONE! I KNOW WHO HE IS! HE DEFILED IT WITH DARK MAGIC AND BROUGHT IT BACK HERE!"

"He defiled it? What kind of magic did he do to it?"

"The darkest of the dark arts, soul magic. The kind that my mother swore off after she accidentally created the Dementors." Then she looked at him with a strange look in her eyes. "Why do you ask? You know this. You have encountered the magic before. When you go to destroy it, _and you will_, know this: it is in the room where everything is hidden. If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask."

"Thank you, milady." So, the Ghost Diary was done, but what did she mean about Riddle defiling the diadem with soul magic, a kind that Nico had encountered before?

**A/N:** Yes, Nico is quite thick there at the end, isn't he? Any way, Harry is the only one affected by the Basilisk venom because of his Slytherin blood, which, in addition to giving him Parseltongue, gives his body the ability to become immune to snake venom after being exposed to it and using magical snake venom to help his health and enhance his body. The story about Churchill is from _The Wit and Wisdom of Winston Churchill_, while the quote Harry and Winston use is actually modified from the original. The original quote read: _It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. The quotations when engraved upon the memory give good thoughts._ Slightly different, yet close enough to the original that it doesn't matter. It comes from Churchill's book _My Early Life: A Roving Commission_, originally published in 1930. My Merlin and Arthur is strongly based on BBC's show _Merlin_, and as you can tell, is fairly different from canon. And again, the effects of the Basilisk venom is loosely based on MariusDarkwolf's story _Harry Potter and the Eyes of the Serpent._ The tale of Helena Ravenclaw, aka the Grey Lady, is a combination of _The Deathly Hallows_ book and second film. Her scene is just too good to not work in to my story, especially her little riddle for the location of the Diadem.


	11. Finals

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Eleven: Finals**

April 1, the Twins birthday, was a long, stressful day for Hermione, what with hearing about the failure of Buckbeak's hearing, slapping Theodore Nott (while calling him a foul, evil little cockroach,) missing Charms class, and of course the Twins celebrating their birthday with a school-wide prank. The last thing she needed that day was another useless Divination class, yet that was what she got. "I have decided to introduce the crystal ball a little earlier than I had planned," Trelawney was saying. "The fates have informed me that your examination in June will concern the Orb, and I am anxious to give you sufficient practice."

Harry and Hermione (who had now permanently partnered up in the class) both scoffed at that, while Harry leaned over and stage whispered "Does she really expect us to buy that? She's the one who sets the exams!" Hermione laughed, as she was about to say pretty much the same thing.

Trelawney obviously heard them, as she was standing right next to them, but continued as if she hadn't. "Crystal gazing is a particularly refined art," she said dreamily. "I do not expect any of you to See when you first peer into the Orb's infinite depths. We shall start by practicing relaxing the conscious mind and external eyes as to clear the Inner Eye and the super conscious. Perhaps, if we are lucky, some of you will See before the end of the class."

After about five minutes, Hermione said "This is such a waste of time. I could be practicing something useful. I could be catching up on Cheering Charms."

Trelawney had again stopped by their table and asked "Do you require help interpreting the shadowy portents inside the Orb?"

Harry just laughed and said "There's no need to. It clearly says we're going to have lots of fog tonight." Nearly the entire class laughed at that.

"Now, really! You are disturbing the clairvoyant vibrations!" Harry, Hermione and Neville just laughed all the harder at that. Once they had stopped, Trelawney gazed into their crystal ball and said "My dear, it is here, plainer than ever before... my dear, stalking toward you, growing ever closer... the Gr-"

"Oh, not that ridiculous Grim again!" Hermione shouted.

Trelawney leaned in close, saying "My dear, from the first moment you stepped foot into my class, I sensed that you did not possess the proper spirit for the noble art of Divination. Indeed, I have never met a student with a more hopelessly mundane mind than you." She then took Hermione's hand and, pointing at one of the lines, said "No, you see there. You may be young in years, but your heart is shrivelled as an old maid's, your soul as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave."

"Well, if being good at Divination means I have to see Death omens following my friends, then I'm out!" Hermione picked up her bag then and stormed out of the room, not even bothering to pick up her copy of _Unfogging the Future_.

Harry also stood up, saying "I quite agree. Having my death foretold every lesson is one thing, but if you insult my friends, I'm out of here. Besides, it is not given to us to peer into the mysteries of the future_._"

"You would quit my class and lose any insight into the future?" Trelawney asked in shock, obviously upset at losing her favourite target.

Harry just laughed and quoted _"I have no fear of the future. The veils of the future are lifted one by one, and mortals must act from day to day. Let us go forward into its' mysteries, let us tear aside the veils which hide it from our eyes and let us move onward with confidence and courage. Let us reconcile ourselves to the mysterious rhythm of our destinies, such as they must be in this world of space and time."_ With that, he picked up his and Hermione's books, and their crystal ball and tossed them into the fire before storming out after Hermione.

Once they were gone, Neville laughed and said "So much for _that_ prediction, Professor. You had said that _one_ would leave around Easter, well Harry makes _two_ that have left and it's more than a week before Easter. I'm starting to wonder if you're a real Seer at all, or just some looney pretending to be one."

* * *

><p>Draco laughed when he heard the tale of what happened in Divination, but it was one of the few things that helped ease the tension of their finals which were fast approaching. To make it even worse, the Quidditch Final was also fast approaching, which was putting a lot of pressure on both Draco and Harry, especially as it was the epic Gryffindor vs. Slytherin game. No one really expected Slytherin to win this year, but there was a lot of pressure on Harry, as catching the Snitch at just the right moment would secure the win for Gryffindor. Oliver was constantly reminding him that Harry was to catch the Snitch "Only if we're more than fifty points up, Harry, or we win the match but lose the Cup. You've got that, haven't you? You must catch the Snitch only if we're -"<p>

"I KNOW OLIVER!" Harry yelled. Oliver was putting so much pressure on his team that even the Twins had been spotted working in order to avoid his rants, but that might have just been because they were about to take their OWLs.

Finally, on May 22, the day of the Quidditch Final came and while Oliver and Flint shook hands, so did Harry and Draco. "Good luck, Draco."

"You too, Harry. May the best wizard win." As Harry looked at his competition, he noticed something odd-nearly every player had been changed. Now, Draco was easily the smallest person on the team, and every newbie was at least as large as Crabbe and Goyle. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as the Snitch flew by. Neither of the Seekers went after it though, as they both flew up above the rest of their teams. "So, Harry, when does Wood want you to catch the Snitch?"

"Not till we're more than fifty points up, you?"

"We need to be up by at least 130 points, and that will only result in a tie with Hufflepuff. Oooh, I hope that didn't hurt too much," Draco said as Flint smashed into Angelina Johnson, one of the Gryffindor Chasers. He didn't get away with it though, as Fred threw his Beater's bat at the Slytherin's head. However, those actions allowed both teams to get a penalty shot, which allowed Gryffindor to gain another goal, while Wood blocked Flint's shot. Gryffindor was allowed another penalty shot when Flint grabbed Katie Bell's head when she was trying to get to the Slytherin goal. Without a doubt, this was quickly becoming the dirtiest game either boy had ever seen, and that included the professional games that Draco had watched with his parents.

"Good game, eh Draco?"

"You can say that, but it's a little boring for us, don't you think?"

"Well then, in that case, what do you say to a bit of a chase? First to get to the goalposts, Slytherin then Gryffindor three times?"

"Sure, say, five Galleons to the winner?" Harry nodded, before setting off for the Slytherin goalposts. Draco quickly followed, but his Nimbus 2011 was no match for the Firebolt. Thinking that Harry had spotted the Snitch, the two Slytherin Beaters sent the Bludgers at him, which he easily dodged. But when the two boys charged at him themselves, Harry simply waited until the last second before climbing, letting the two Beaters hit each other instead, while Draco caught up and passed Harry in their little 'race.' That little delay, plus some manoeuvring to help out their respective teams, allowed Draco to win the race. By that time, Gryffindor was in the lead, 170-110, meaning that Harry could officially start looking for the Snitch.

Then he saw it sparkling about twenty feet above him, and Harry raced after it, Draco right behind him. The Snitch, however, did not want to be caught and it led them on another chase, but even it could not compete with the Firebolt's speed, and within five minutes, Harry had caught it. But when Harry looked at Oliver, he noticed that the captain had broken down crying. "Uhm guys, what's wrong with Oliver?" George just pointed at the scoreboard, which now read **Gryffindor: 320 Slytherin 120**. Gryffindor had won the game, but they had _tied_ for the cup with Hufflepuff! "Okay, what happens now?"

"Nothing. Although rare, the Quidditch Cup belongs to both Houses, I think the last time it happened was in 1897?" Draco explained.

"Hey, it doesn't matter, does it, Harry? We still won and we have the Cup! Who cares if we have to share it?" Fred said, clearly in a celebratory mood.

And he wasn't the only one. On their way back to the common room, without warning, Harry was pulled into a broom closet where someone in a Hufflepuff uniform gave him his first kiss. And what a kiss! The kiss, short as it was, was electrifying, magical in every sense of the word . . . ah, forget it. It was beyond words, that was what it was. It was a Patronus-worthy memory, that's what it was. But what surprised Harry (who was the only one with open eyes,) was that for the brief second that they kissed, the broom closet was filled with a very pale, yellow light. "Wow."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, Harry. Did you think our first kiss would be like that?"

"No, Ced, I didn't. I definitely wasn't expecting the glow."

"Yeah, it's beautiful isn't it. But I've never heard of something like this before. Do you think Hermione could help figure out what it is?"

"NO! Sorry, but Hermione is a little dangerous to be around when it gets this close to exams. It would probably be better to go to a pureblood, maybe Draco?" Cedric thought about it, but it was only after a lot of cajoling by Harry that he finally agreed to Harry's suggestion. They then quickly checked the Marauder's Map, and once the coast was clear, they ran out to their common rooms to celebrate their joint-victory in the Quidditch Cup.

* * *

><p>The euphoria over the Quidditch tie lasted over the next week, the final week before the exams started, which fortunately saved a lot of nerves and tempers. Luckily, the group of friends had Cedric and Romulus to help them out, although the times that the two couples would go off to have 'private tutoring sessions' grew more and more frequent.<p>

Just as fortunate, most of the exams went by fairly quickly. June 1 had their Potions (shockingly easy after Draco's help,) History, Charms, Runes (a relatively simple translation using the runic alphabets they'd learned,) and Care of Magical Creatures (also quite easy. All they had to do was safely approach a hippogriff and identify the knarl among a bunch of hedgehogs - all they had to do was offer a bit of food or drink to them. The hedgehogs would gladly eat or drink while the knarl would go nuts - it was even more suspicious about food gifts than a Slytherin!) June 2 had Herbology, Arithmancy and Astronomy. June 3 ended the exams with Transfiguration, DADA (with a simple obstacle course featuring many of the creatures they had covered in class,) Wizarding Studies, and, for Neville, Divination.

Trelawney asked for each of her remaining students individually, claiming that if they said a word about what the exam was, the person that told would suffer a horrible accident. Neville scoffed at that, glad that he was dropping the class after today. Trelawney sat waiting for him in front of a crystal ball, and asked him to look and try to See something in there. Neville just looked in before deciding to fake something. "I can see a dark shape . . . it's a hippogriff."

"Ah, perhaps you are Seeing the results of poor Hagrid's trouble with the Ministry of Magic! Tell me, does it appear to have it's head?"

Neville knew what she wanted, so he decided to tell her what he expected to happen. "Wait. I'm also seeing people. It looks like . . . Draco and Nico. They're arguing with the Minister . . . Fudge doesn't look happy . . . and Macnair's even more unhappy. HA! Macnair just swung his axe into a pumpkin! He's walking off, and Hagrid is weeping with joy, he's hugging them both."

"You're sure, dear?" Neville just glared at her. "Well, dear, I think we'll leave it there... A little disappointing... but I'm sure you did your best." Then, to Neville's shock, Trelawney grabbed his arm, and in a hoarse, doubled voice stated:

"_It will happen tonight:_

_The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless_

_Abandoned by his followers_

_His servant has been chained these thirteen years_

_Tonight, before midnight, the servant,_

_He who betrayed his friends,_

_Whose heart rots with murder shall break free_

_And set out to rejoin his master_

_Innocent blood shall be spilt and_

_The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid_

_Greater and more terrible than ever he was_

_Tonight . . . before midnight . . . the servant,_

_Will set out . . . To rejoin . . . His master"_

Then she shook for a couple seconds before coughing like she had a frog in her throat. Once she had recovered, she looked at Neville and asked "Oh, I'm so sorry dear boy, did you say something?"

Neville was nearly in a state of shock, he just said "No, nothing."

"Well then, go on. You've finished your exam. I have others to test, you know. Parvati Patil!" Neville then rushed out of the room, glad to be done with Divination and still in shock over what sounded like a true prophecy. Parvati and Weasley attempted to ask about the exam, but Neville just rushed past them, intent on finding his friends and telling them about the prophecy. Little did he know was that his friends were looking for him so that they could go down to Hagrid's hut and recover a missing pet, and hopefully heal a broken friendship. What none of _them_ knew was that the pet would never make it back, and would in fact bring about a night of revelations and surprises.


	12. The Shrieking Shack

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Twelve: The Shrieking Shack**

Not five minutes after the three men left Hagrid's, there was a flash of fire, and from the flash, two people and a green and silver phoenix appeared. "Wow, what a rush! Flash, we have _got_ to do that again!" Hermione said.

"Ah, so yeh got me message then?" Hagrid asked. Shocked as he was at their method of arrival, he _had_ seen someone fire-travel before. Admittedly it was always Dumbledore with Fawkes, but he was used to it.

Flash the phoenix then changed back to Harry and he said "Of course, Hagrid. Thanks for finding Scabbers. Where is he?"

Hagrid walked over to the table and pulled the lid off of a tin before pulling Scabbers the rat out from inside. "Tell Ron to keep a closer eye on his pet, would yeh? I can't be spendin' all me time watching out fer rats, yeh know."

"Sure thing, Hagrid," Neville replied, taking the rat from Hagrid. "We'll tell him that next time Buckbeak may eat him before you can catch him."

"How did yeh know about Buckbeak?"

"Please Hagrid. Those two could probably do more impossible things than me!" Harry said. "Of course they'd get Buckbeak off. Though Draco's smirk definitely says they did it." Sure enough, Draco was still smirking at the victory over Fudge and Macnair. "Thanks for the help."

"Any time, Harry," Hagrid said as they walked off towards the castle, Draco joining them.

"So, Harry, why aren't we using the . . . fire-travel you did to get to Hagrid's?"

"Easy, Draco. It is quite simply magically tiring and there is no way that I'm going to exhaust myself today. Sorry, but you'll just have to experience it another day."

"Harry, have you ever known Scabbers to give trouble before?" Neville asked. In his hands, it was clear that the rat was doing his best to escape the Gryffindor Animagus.

"No, in fact it was just the opposite. Ron always said that all he did was sleep and eat. I've never seen him act like this before . . . Catch that rat!" Harry cried as Scabbers bit Neville's hand, forcing the boy to drop the rat. The four friends all raced after the rat (Draco rather reluctantly,) but as they chased it, another joined in-a shockingly familiar golden eagle. "Nico? What the bloody hell are you doing?" Harry asked as the eagle dived after the rat, just missing him. Three times the eagle dived at the rat, and three times, Goldie just missed catching him.

Finally, Draco caught the rat, in the shade of the most dangerous tree on the ground-the infamous Whomping Willow. But then Draco called out "Guys, behind you!" As the three turned, they saw an enormous black dog that Harry immediately recognized as the one he'd been seeing all year. But instead of going after Harry, it leaped past them and bounded straight for Draco. The dog attempted to take Scabbers from Draco, but Draco defended the rat surprisingly well. In response, the dog bit the sleeve of Draco's robe and dragged him towards the roots of the Whomping Willow. Draco however was stubborn and hooked his leg around one of the roots. All that accomplished though, was to slow them down a little and break his leg.

Just as Draco disappeared from sight beneath the roots, the three friends were hit by the branches. The trio got up, and thanks to Harry's Seeker skills and improved eyesight, they managed to avoid getting hit by the tree a second time just long enough for Goldie to sweep in and hit a particular knot on the tree, causing the violent tree to freeze. He then flew over the tunnel long enough for the trio to get the hint and start going in. Neville, being the last one to go in was the only to see that Goldie flew off towards Hogsmeade once he had shown them the way in. "Where do you suppose this goes, Harry?"

"Not sure, Mione, but I have a hunch. I just hope I'm wrong. Keep your wands out, just in case. _Lumos!_" After a long walk, at least as long as the walk from the One-Eyed Witch to Honeydukes, they came out inside an old, boarded up building. Every window was boarded up, the paint and wallpaper was peeling, every piece of furniture was destroyed and there were stains on the floor and furniture.

Just as Harry put out his wandlight, Hermione asked "We're in the Shrieking Shack, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but there is no way ghosts did that, so what did?"

"Could you two shut off the 'mystery solving' part of you for just one minute and focus on finding Draco, please? I have a bad feeling about this." The duo blushed and nodded as they carefully walked up a set of stairs, following a set of footprints, ones that eventually led to a bedroom with a fine, recently used four-poster bed much like the ones they were used to. And on the bed was a fussy Draco, Crookshanks was on his lap, and Nico, who was attempting to get his cousin to allow him to put a splint on his leg, while keeping an eye on Scabbers.

"Guys, where's the dog?"

Nico just smiled, as he said "Not a dog, Harry. The 'Grim' that's been following you is an Animagus. Harry, meet Sirius 'Padfoot' Black, your godfather."

But before anybody could do anything else, a man called out "_Expelliarmus!_" and Harry, Hermione and Neville all lost their wands. "Sorry about that, but I don't want any accidents to happen tonight. I've waited far too long to have justice." The trio turned to see a fairly thin yet handsome man, despite the tangled, matted hair, and he was dressed not in old, dirty prison robes, but in fairly new, if tattered and dirty robes. "I must say, I never expected James' son to befriend a Slytherin, especially Lucius' son, but I am glad you came after him instead of going for a teacher, that will make things a lot easier. That's something your father would have definitely done."

Hermione panicked and jumped in front of Harry. "If you're going to kill Harry, you'll have to kill me first." Neville nodded and got in front of her.

"No, only one will die tonight." Neville took that wrong and leaped at Black, despite Nico's protests. To everyone's shock, Neville grabbed his wand and pointed it at Sirius' face. "Are you going to kill me, Neville?"

"Considering you killed Harry's parents, I'll do it, and I'll do it with a smile."

Sirius' face fell as he said, "I killed his parents, yes, I don't deny that, but there's more to the story than you know. Please, just let me explain."

But before Neville could decide either way, Lupin came into the room and disarmed Neville. He then motioned for Neville to move as he pointed his wand at Sirius. "Well well, Sirius, looking rather ragged aren't we? Finally the flesh reflects the madness within."

"Well, you'd know all about the 'madness within,' wouldn't you, Remus?" Sirius said with a smile.

Lupin just glared at him before saying "It's over, Black. It's time for you to pay for your betrayal with your soul."

"Wait!" Everyone turned to Harry, who had picked up his wand and was pointing it not at Sirius, but at Lupin. "Professor, I don't want to, but if I have to, I _will_ curse you. I believe that Sirius is innocent, and I am going to hear his story, understand?"

"Harry, you can't trust either of them! Black's a murderer, and Professor Lupin's a werewolf!" Hermione shouted.

"I know, Hermione." Everyone stared at Harry in shock.

Now it was Lupin that acted like a killer as he looked at the pair and asked "How long have you known?"

"Since Professor Snape assigned the essay," Hermione replied.

"Since our first class," was Harry's response. Lupin stared in confusion, but Harry explained. "What? I suspected you were Moony when Mione mentioned your name on the train. Besides, who else would have a Boggart of a full moon but a werewolf? The missed classes just confirmed it, considering they always fell after the full moon."

"Congratulations, Harry. You seem to be as smart as your mother, but as foolish as your father, especially when it comes to people you trust."

Harry raised his wand against Lupin again. "Listen, I've told you that I've seen Pettigrew's name on the Map, professor. Now you have a choice, either calm down and listen to Sirius, or I can curse you and you will _still_ listen to Sirius. Your choice, but either way I _will_ hear what he has to say."

Sirius started laughing. "You are _definitely_ Lily's son, Harry! She'd have said the same thing if she were here! And did you mention the Map? Moony, my old friend, Harry's been up to no good!"

Harry just smiled. "Of course I have, Padfoot! How else was I supposed to go to Hogsmeade without that map? Now, start talking. I know you were friends with Pettigrew, now I want to know the rest." Lupin turned to argue with Harry, but Harry just glared at him, and Lupin fell to the ground, petrified. "Okay, that's new. I guess that Basilisk changed me even more than Pomfrey guessed." Black turned to Nico and mouthed 'Basilisk?' Nico just mouthed 'Later.' "Sirius, explanations."

"Sorry, Harry. But it's a bit of a long story. It helps that you know Remus is a werewolf. When we found out, we decided to become Animagi because werewolves aren't dangerous to animals. While we were with him, his changes were more bearable. Before the Wolfsbane Potion was invented, Moony was a full-fledged monster, and it was because of him that the Willow was planted and the Shack built. Remus would come in here so his change wasn't a threat to anyone but himself. It was his howls of pain that caused the rumours about the Shack being the most haunted building in Britain."

Draco interrupted there. "Hold on, what do you mean 'we'? Who is the 'we'?"

"Sorry about that. There was me, Eric 'Spike' Grace, James 'Prongs' Potter, Sarah 'Buck' Malfoy and _Pettigrew_. It took most of us a little more than a year to complete the change, but it took _him_ three years before he could change. Unfortunately, his form was the key to us being able to join Moony, as his was the only one small enough to touch the key knot on the Willow without getting hit."

"Why was his the only one small enough?" Neville asked.

"Because he was a rat! How we didn't see the threat there I'll never know," Sirius explained. "When Dumbledore suggested the Fidelius Charm, James and Lily jumped at it and asked me to be the Secret Keeper. But I had the stupid idea to have Pettigrew be the Secret Keeper. If I was a decoy, then they'd be perfectly safe, but the rat was the spy!"

"But what's that got to do with the Weasel's rat?" Draco asked.

"Everything, Draco. You see, Scabbers _is _Peter 'Wormtail' Pettigrew. You've got a murdering, backstabbing, traitorous Death Eater in your hands, cousin. The rat's been in the Weasley family for thirteen years, curiously long life for a common garden rat, isn't it? And he's missing a toe. All they could find of Pettigrew was a finger," Nico explained.

"Yes, the dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead! And then he transformed into a rat and found . . . Weasley's family did you say? Figures. The Weasleys were always close to Dumbledore, and he would be in a position to hear if Voldemort was on the rise again."

Lupin had gotten free of the petrification by then and asked "Why did you suggest Peter as Secret Keeper, Sirius? Why didn't you trust me?"

"Remus, think about it. We knew that someone in the Order that was close to James and Lily was a traitor. I knew I wasn't the traitor, and who could have suspected Pettigrew, a weak thing whose only talent was Potions? You were the only remaining suspect. The fact that you were always on long, secret missions that you couldn't talk about just fuelled my suspicions."

"And how did you know about Peter being with the Weasleys?"

Sirius reached into his robes and pulled out an old newspaper-the one that had the headline about the Weasley's winning the _Daily Prophet_'s lottery and going on a trip to Egypt in response. "Fudge gave me this the day he visited me. I was bored and wanted to do the crosswords they always feature. Fudge was always nice enough to give it to me when he visited. Imagine my surprise when I saw the rat on the front page! I couldn't believe my luck! But then I noticed the caption, where it said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts, where Harry was. The rat was in the perfect position to act and deliver the last Potter, my beloved godson to Voldemort should he ever hear that he was on the rise again."

"If you're innocent, _cousin_, then why did you say that you killed Harry's parents?" Draco asked.

"Because it was by my suggestion that Lily and James made Pettigrew their Secret Keeper. If we had gone with their plan, they'd probably still be alive. But I persuaded them to change to the rat at the last second." Sirius' voice was full of regret as he told this part of the story. Not even suspicious Draco could disbelieve it. "I'm to blame, I know it. That Halloween night, I went to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but he wasn't there. We'd agreed that he wouldn't leave the house, and there were no signs of a struggle. It didn't feel right, so I flew off towards Godric's Hollow, and when I saw what happened, I knew what had happened. I had practically handed your parents to Voldemort on a silver platter. I was going to take you with me, but Hagrid had gotten there first and refused to hand you to me. He said it was under Dumbledore's orders, that you be brought to him. I didn't understand it then, in fact I still don't understand it. How did Hagrid get there first, and why did Dumbledore insist on taking you when I was still alive?" No one had an answer for that.

Harry was starting to get impatient and was about to give them the go-ahead to force Pettigrew to show himself when for the third time that night, a voice called out the Disarming Charm, and Lupin's wand flew from his hand. "Ah, vengeance is sweet," Snape said, pointing his wand at Sirius. "How I hoped to be the one to catch you, Black." Lupin tried to interfere, but Snape just turned his ebony wand on him instead. "I told Dumbledore you were helping an old friend into the castle, and now, here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would use this old wreck as your hideout."

"Brilliant, Snape," Black said. "Once again you put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion. Now if you'll excuse us, Remus and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

But Snape just pointed his wand back at Sirius' throat saying "Give me a reason, I beg you. I could do it, you know, but why deny the Dementors? They're _so_ longing to see you. Do I detect a flicker of fear? Oh, yes. A Dementor's Kiss. One can only imagine what that must be like to endure. It's said to be nearly unbearable to witness, but I'll do my best."

"Severus, don't be a fool."

"He can't help it, Remus, it's become a habit by now. Nineteen years he's acted like a fool, ever since our OWLs, you know that."

"Uncle Sev, wait! If there's a chance that Sirius is innocent, shouldn't we at least hear him out? And what are you even doing here?"

"Lupin here hasn't taken his potion tonight, and I was just bringing it to his office when I noticed him going into the tunnel beneath the Willow. And what are you doing here, Draco?"

"Apparently I've got a murderer in my hands, Sev, and Uncle Sirius dragged me down here so he could exact his own vengeance. And sir, is a school-boy grudge really worth killing an innocent man? It couldn't hurt to let them offer proof, is it?"

"Draco, SHUT UP! There is history here that you don't know and could never understand!"

For the fourth time that night, the Disarming Charm was called out, as Snape's wand flew into Draco's open hand. "Sorry, professor, but as Sirius is the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, it's my duty to hear him out. Besides, Harry here believes him, and if Sirius _is_ innocent, it means he's out from the Muggles who have had him since before Sirius was arrested."

"You foolish boy, as if a friendship with a Potter means anything! The Potters have always hated Slytherins, they'd sooner curse them than talk to them."

Before Snape could say another word against Harry and his family, Harry called out "_Stupefy!_" and Snape collapsed. "I won't hear anything against my family, especially not from _him_. Go ahead, Sirius, let's see if you're right." Sirius then took the rat from Draco and set him on top of the piano, where it immediately ran, as if Crookshanks was after him again. Remus, Sirius and Nico all started shooting spells at the rat, one that, if Harry heard correctly was "_Homenum Reverto_." But finally Nico's eagle eyes won the race against the rat as the spell finally hit, revealing the rat to be a short, (just barely taller than Harry) balding man with fingernails like claws and definite rat-like features. Oddly though, his features looked very familiar to Harry, almost like he'd seen them all his life. Pettigrew looked all around them, obviously looking for an exit, which Harry quickly denied him by moving in front of the door. There was no chance _in hell_ that the traitor was getting away!

"Well, hello, Peter," said Lupin pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him, which, if Harry thought about, they had. "Long time, no see."

"Remus? Sirius. My old friends!" Then he darted for the door, but the two men stopped him before he could get close enough to even try to get past Harry.

"Ah ah ah, Peter, you're not going anywhere until we sort a few things out. See, we've been talking about what happened the night James and Lily died. Of course, you may have missed a few key details, whining like you were in Draco's hand," Lupin said.

"Remus, please, you don't believe him, do you?"

"I must admit, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat."

"Innocent, but scared! I knew this day would come! I knew he'd come after me! I've been waiting for this day for thirteen years!"

Being the only sorted-Slytherin in the room, Draco caught on to something there. "So, you knew that Sirius would escape from Azkaban, even though no one's done it in the 1300 years that it's existed? I find that hard to believe."

"Of course! He's got dark powers that we could only dream of! How else could he have escaped? The Dark Lord must have taught him tricks, or how else could he have escaped?"

"Dreaming of dark powers? Calling him the Dark Lord? You sound like the Darker portions of my house, Pettigrew. Who but a Death Eater would dream of Dark powers or call You-Know-Who the Dark Lord? Every word you say just makes me even more certain that he's innocent." Neville and Hermione both agreed with Draco. What kind of person would dream of Dark powers except for a Dark wizard?

"Besides, Voldemort teach me tricks? If he taught me how to, then why isn't my dear old cousin Bellatrix out? You're going to want to watch out now, Peter. Bella especially wants you to pay. Every single one of Voldemort's supporters in Azkaban seems to think that the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow on your information and then met his end there. If they ever found out you were alive, well, let's just say that I don't fancy your chances," Sirius explained.

"Then how did you escape Azkaban, Mr Black?" Hermione asked.

"First, call me Sirius. Second, it was because I was an Animagus. Dementors don't really affect animals, so I could change into a dog and just curl up and wait for them to leave. They would just assume that I was losing my mind, like everyone else does in that place. I knew I was innocent, and that was a thought that they _couldn't_ take because it's not necessarily a happy thought. So, when I saw the picture of Pettigrew with the Weasley family, in a perfect position to strike if he heard the right news, I knew I had to do something. So, I waited for just the right moment to escape, a time when the Dementors weren't patrolling my area while the human guards were asleep. I slipped through the bars then swam to shore. I accidentally visited Harry before heading north to Hogwarts, where I stayed here most of the time, except during Quidditch games." Then, turning back to the rat, he asked him outright, "You sold Lily and James to Voldemort, do you deny it?"

"I had no choice! The Dark Lord, you have no idea of the weapons he possesses! You have no idea the lengths he'd go to! I was scared, I was never brave like the rest of you! Ask yourselves, what would you have done? What would you have done?"

To everyone's surprise, it was Draco who shouted out "I'D HAVE DIED, DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY MY FRIENDS!"

"He was taking over everywhere! What was there to have gained by resisting him?"

"What was there to be gained? ONLY INNOCENT LIVES, YOU DAMNED RAT!" Neville shouted.

By now the rat had completely panicked and he ran for Harry. "Harry! Harry, you look just like your father, just like James!"

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?" Sirius roared. "HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?"

"Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed! He would have understood!"

"I'll never know what my dad would have wanted because of you! If you'd had your way, I'd have been killed that night with my parents! But you're not going to die, you rat." Pettigrew looked up at him with hope in his beady little eyes. "No, death is too good for you." And the hope died again. "We're going to take you to the castle, then the Dementors can have you. I imagine they'd be just as happy getting your soul as they would Sirius'. Besides, I don't think Mum or Dad would've wanted you to go that easy, and I don't think they'd have wanted you two to become murderer's for them," he said looking at Sirius and Remus. Turning back to the rat, he warned him "But this is your last chance, Pettigrew. If you escape, I'll kill you myself." Pettigrew just whined at the statement, certain that Harry would fulfil his promise.

**A/N:** I know, Lupin should at least suspect that Sirius is innocent, but with Harry claiming to have seen Peter on the map before and his iron belief in Sirius has left Lupin doubting the Map, so he doesn't use it as much as he does in canon. As for how there is more than one copy of the map, well, I'll explain that in the last chapter.


	13. Saving Sirius

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Thirteen: Saving Sirius**

It was an odd group that left the Shrieking Shack that night bound for Hogwarts. Lupin and Draco walked in front bound to Pettigrew so he couldn't escape. Behind them was Sirius and Harry, making up for thirteen years of lost time. Taking up the rear were Hermione, Nico and Neville, with Snape in-between, Neville making Snape drift along between them, and making sure that his least favourite professor hit every single bump in the tunnel. "Sorry about the bite, Draco, I reckon that twinges a bit."

"No problem, according to Nico, it's par for the course when you're one of Harry's friends."

"He's right, though this _is_ our calmest year so far," Hermione said.

"Hmm, seems that we need to have a bit of a talk then, Harry. Anyway, I was going for the rat. Normally, I have a very sweet disposition as a dog, despite the fact that I'm a Grim. In fact, more than once, James suggested I make the change permanent. The tail I could live with, but the fleas, they're murder." The entire group laughed at Sirius, glad to finally have something to take their minds off the revelations they'd had. "You know what this means, don't you Harry? Turning in the rat?" Sirius asked as they left the tunnel.

"Yeah, you're free."

"Well, yes that, but, I don't know if anyone told you this, but when you were born, James and Lily made me your godfather."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, I can understand if you want to stay wherever it is you're staying now. But if you ever wanted another home-"

"What, leave the Dursley's and live with you?"

"Well, it's just a thought, I can understand if you don't want to," Sirius quickly said, clearly backtracking.

"Are you crazy?! I've never wanted anything more! Do you have a house? When can I move in?"

"You're serious?"

"No, that's you!" he joked. "But of course I mean it! Did you really think you made a mistake with your guess? I hate the Dursleys!"

"Who are the Dursleys, Harry?"

"Mum's sister and her family, and if what Lupin's told me is right, they haven't changed for the better at all, if anything they're worse!"

"Well, you won't have to worry about them any more, Harry, I promise it. As soon as I'm cleared, I promise, I'll find a good home for the two of us. Between the two of us, there _must_ be at least one place that's still habitable." The years melted off Sirius' face as he talked, finally recognizable as the man from his parent's photos.

"Will Dumbledore allow it though, Sirius? Remember, it was under his orders that I was taken from you in the first place."

Sirius turned to Harry in shock. "How do you know that?"

"I solemnly swore to be up to no good, and Hagrid spilt the beans where I could hear," Harry smirked, looking shockingly like Draco had just three hours earlier.

Sirius smiled and promised "Dumbledore be damned, Harry. As long as you want to, you're living with me. I swear it on my honour as a Marauder and a Black."

"Harry!" Hermione screamed, and the group turned to look in the direction she was pointing. To everyone's horror, they saw the full moon just starting to rise over the mountains.

"Remus, my friend, have you taken your potion tonight?" But it was clear that he had not. In fact, if Harry remembered correctly, Snape had even said that the reason he had been down there was because Lupin _had not _taken it! As Lupin continued the slow, painful transformation from teacher to the feral werewolf, Pettigrew pulled out a bone-white wand and cut himself free of his bonds before stunning Draco. Harry quickly disarmed him, but Pettigrew grabbed it again and instantly changed back to the form he had spent the last thirteen years in-a rat. Nico also quickly changed into his Animagus form and chased after the rat.

By this point in time, Lupin had thrown Sirius away and completely changed into Moony, the werewolf. He looked fairly human, but with a wolf's tail, head and feet, and fur all over his body. Hermione, being the sweet girl she was, decided to try and talk to him. Neville on the other hand, prepared to change to Wildcat, just in case things went wrong. Nobody was paying any attention to Snape, who was just beginning to wake up. "Professor? Professor Lupin, do you recognize me?" For a second, he almost seemed like a hurt puppy, until he howled and started at the group, which had huddled around Draco protectively.

"That's it, Potter! You're going to pay for that."

"Later, professor, right now, we've got bigger things to worry about!" Neville said. He then quickly changed into his cougar form and attacked Moony, much to Snape's shock. He was in so much shock that he actually moved to protect Harry and Hermione from Moony. Well, either shock was responsible, or he actually had a heart, something most Hogwarts students doubted. (It was in so much doubt that the Twins had records of several hundred galleons bet _against_ the fact.) Then, just as Moony hit Wildcat, Padfoot joined the fight against the werewolf. Moony was furious at his packmate, this was his prey and he was keeping him from it! Him and that strange cat, both were defending his prey!

"Follow me, Potter, Granger! Lupin's not himself right now, and I don't think you'd prefer death or becoming a werewolf to what I have in store for you."

"For once, professor, we completely agree. But what about Draco?" Harry asked.

Snape finally noticed his godson lying on the ground and quickly called out "_Expecto Patronum!_" while focusing on a message for Madame Pomfrey. A silver doe quickly shot from his wand and ran towards the Hospital Wing. "Granger, take care of Draco, I'll make sure that Lupin can't follow us." While Hermione raised Draco into the air, Snape started transfiguring the grass and several of the other surrounding plants into silver versions of themselves.

Fortunately Wildcat had chased Moony into the Dark Forest, and Harry just barely caught sight of them as they moved deeper. But where was Sirius? Then he heard a man moaning over by the loch, and Harry ran, ignoring Snape's orders to come back. When he arrived at the Black Loch, he was surprised at the unseasonable cold there, bad enough that the Loch had grown a layer of ice over the shallow end. By the time he got to Sirius, it was clear he was panicking. It was just as clear why, and the source of the freezing temperatures: there were over 100 Dementors closing in on them. The entire population of Dementors at Hogwarts had closed in on the loch. Harry was furious, his Killing Curse-green eyes now locked forever in their new snake-form. "Oh no you don't! _EXPECTO PATRONUM!_" he called out, quickly focusing on his newest happy thoughts: Cedric's kiss and the fact that he was leaving the Dursley's forever. Instantly, the solid form of an animal burst from his wand, and with a pulsing wave of power, the Dementors fled the area as quickly as they could. But to Harry's confusion, instead of the stag that Draco had reported at the Ravenclaw-Gryffindor game, it was an enormous . . . _badger?_ Before Harry could puzzle it out, he collapsed in exhaustion on top of his godfather in such a way that, when Snape found them, it almost looked like they had fallen asleep, with Harry using Sirius' chest as a pillow.

* * *

><p>Nico considered himself quite fortunate. Despite his eagle eyes, it was quite difficult catching a rat in the dark. For the first time, he almost wished his Animagus form was a snake, but he had gotten lucky. Once he got to Dumbledore's office, Sirius could officially be cleared. How could he not, with living proof that he was innocent?<p>

Dumbledore was still moping about, trying to figure out where things went so wrong when he noticed a golden eagle trying to get inside his office. "Mr Grace, what are you doing here?" he asked as he opened the window.

"Making sure that a traitor doesn't get away with his crimes, Professor," the Gryffindor said as he changed back to his human form. "Professor Dumbledore, allow me to reintroduce you to the Animagus Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail, aka Scabbers. He has already confessed to being a Death Eater and the one who turned the Potters over to Voldemort. All you need to do is call in the Aurors and Sirius could go free."

_(Dumbledore's POV)_

What? That couldn't be right, could it? Pettigrew hadn't shown himself in nearly fourteen years! "Mr Grace, do you really expect me to believe that this rat is Peter Pettigrew?"

"Just cast the Animagus reverting spell if you don't believe me, professor. We've already gotten a confession from him, all that's needed now is for the Aurors to take him into custody and Sirius can be freed."

This is not good. If they've taken a confession from him and talked to Black, then my plans could come completely apart. But I have no choice, not with Grace here and the portraits watching. I cast the spell and the rat was replaced by a terrified Peter Pettigrew. The bloody idiot, he couldn't even escape when everyone believed him dead and was an unregistered Animagus, he was a disgrace to all purebloods! Well, there was one way to save this debacle. "Well, Mr Grace, thank you for finding this hero, I'm sure he'll be willing to testify against Black."

"WHAT? You're not even going to listen? I tell you that he confessed to betraying the Potters to Voldemort, Professor!"

I just smiled and said "That is impossible, Mr Grace. I know for certain that Black was the Secret Keeper for the Potters, thus the only person able to betray them." Grace just stormed out of my office, but not before knocking Pettigrew out with a spell that I had never heard before: "_Ic the withdraf_." Hmm, probably a Dark spell taught to him by his mother or uncle.

Just as he left, Severus' doe Patronus appeared with a message. "Headmaster, I have just captured Black. He is currently in Flitwick's office awaiting the Kiss. He has confounded Potter, Granger, Longbottom, Grace and Draco into believing there was a chance he was innocent. Potter, Granger and Draco are currently in the Hospital Wing."

_(End of Dumbledore's POV)_

* * *

><p>Down in the Hospital Wing, Harry was just starting to wake up. But what he was hearing wasn't making any sense, "Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can wangle it!"<p>

"Thank you very much indeed, Minister."

"Nasty cut you've got there... Black's work, I suppose?"

"As a matter of fact, it was Potter, Minister..."

"No!"

"Black had bewitched all of them, I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, to judge by their behaviour. They seemed to think there was a possibility he was innocent. They weren't responsible for their actions, especially Draco. Black _is_ technically the Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape... They obviously thought they were going to catch Black single-handed. They've got away with a great deal before now... I'm afraid it's given them a rather high opinion of themselves... and of course Potter has always been allowed an extraordinary amount of license by the headmaster -"

"Ah, well, Snape... Harry Potter, you know... we've all got a bit of a blind spot where he's concerned."

"And yet, is it good for him to be given so much special treatment? Personally, I try and treat him like any other student. And any other student would be suspended at the very least for leading his friends into such danger. Consider, Minister, against all school rules, after all the precautions put in place for his protection, out-of-bounds, at night, consorting with a werewolf and a murderer, and I have reason to believe he has been visiting Hogsmeade illegally too-"

"Well, well... we shall see, Snape, we shall see... The boy has undoubtedly been foolish..." Still confused, Harry opened his mouth, and was shocked by the results. As soon as his tongue was exposed to the air, he immediately sensed not only where he was, but who was there with him, and approximately where. He was in the Hospital Wing, lying on his usual bed, with Draco to his right and Hermione to his left. A few feet away, Snape and Fudge were talking, and Madame Pomfrey was coming their way with a large amount of chocolate. Nico was bursting through the door, and if he was interpreting things correctly, Nico was furious.

Harry opened his eyes just as Pomfrey got to his bed with a small boulder of chocolate. "Ah, you're awake, good. Well, you can rest easy now, Potter. They've got Black, he's locked away upstairs. They'll be performing the Kiss any moment now."

Harry nearly shot out of the bed at that. "WHAT! Oh no they don't!"

Fudge then came on the scene trying to calm Harry down. "What's this? You should be in bed-has he had any chocolate, Madame Pomfrey?"

"I don't need any chocolate! What I need is to see my godfather free! Sirius is _innocent_! Pettigrew faked his death! We _all_ saw him! Draco will support my statement! Let him go!"

"You see what I mean, Minister? Clearly confounded."

"Yes, yes of course. Harry, you've been confounded, that spell can make anyone believe things that aren't true-"

"SHUT UP! If Sirius could confound me, then why didn't he kill me, like you thought he would? HE IS INNOCENT!" Fudge backed up then, shocked to see the Killing Curse in Harry's serpentine eyes.

Dumbledore came in then saying "I'm sorry, but there's nothing that can be done. Sirius Black is doomed and you can't save him, Harry."

"Where's Sirius?" Harry shouted, his eyes quickly changing colour in his rage. "Answer me! Where is he!" he demanded, his wand at the hollow of Madame Pomfrey's throat.

"He . . . he's in Professor Flitwick's office. But why do you want to know?" Pomfrey asked.

"Flitwick's office? DAMN IT! I can't flash to places I've never been!"

"Harry my boy, you need to calm down. It is too late, you understand me? You must see that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours. There is nothing either you or I can do to save Sirius."

"That's what you think, headmaster," Nico growled. He then grabbed Harry and asked "If you take someone with you who _has_ been there, could you do it?"

"I-I'm not sure, why?"

"Then let's find out, shall we? Change and flash the two of us there. I've been there practicing the Patronus."

"What are you two talking about?" Pomfrey asked. She turned to Dumbledore, but he couldn't provide any answers. As for the boys, instead of answering, Harry changed to Flash and flew onto Nico's shoulder. Pomfrey could barely believe her eyes, especially when, there in front of her, they both disappeared in a burst of flames. Dumbledore stared in shock, but he was certain they had failed. As he walked out of the hospital wing, he smiled. This takes care of _that_ unforeseen complication. With Black Kissed, Potter will be shattered, allowing him to reform Harry into the weapon that he needed to destroy Tom by revealing the prophecy, and Albus Dumbledore would become world famous as the most powerful wizard in history.

* * *

><p>The two friends arrived right where they had intended to, just inside of the door to Flitwick's office, and in front of Sirius. "Nico? What are you doing here? And where did you get a phoenix?" Deciding now was the best time to prank his godfather, Harry changed back with a smile. "HARRY? But how?"<p>

Harry would have gladly answered, but just then the temperature started dropping. The Dementors were almost here, and with them were Fudge, Macnair, Dawlish and Snape. Together, the boys shouted out _"Expecto Patronum!"_ Harry focusing on the memory that saved him and Sirius, while Nico used what he had discovered to be his most powerful memory: protecting Harry from Voldemort in First and Second Years, and the two Patroni, one badger and one king cobra shot forward to the Dementors. The room warmed back up as the Dementors fled from the Patroni, while the four humans all cried out in rage. However, while the badger was content to just chase them away, the enormous snake chased down the Dementors and bit one of them. To Dawlish and Dumbledore's shock, the Dementor cried out in pain and turned into dust. The souls that it had sucked up burst from the cloak and disappeared, finally allowed to move on to the eternal judgement.

The four men quickly recovered from their shock and burst into the room, with Macnair and Snape leading the way. "POTTER! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Saving my innocent godfather, Snape! Do what you want to me, but you are NOT going to throw Sirius back into Azkaban, and you are NOT going to give him the Kiss."

Fudge broke in, trying to play peacekeeper. "Mr Potter, you have obviously been confunded, but you cannot seriously believe that you can stop us from delivering justice, can you?"

Harry decided this was another perfect time to use those Churchill quotes he had learned thanks to the Flamels, and he knew the _perfect_ ones to use. "_The power of the Executive to cast a man in prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government. The ancient Anglo-Saxon foundation of all our system of criminal justice is trial by jury. We regard it as a fundamental safeguard of our democratic liberties and life, and a principle which has been woven into the whole history of our judicial system, that the supreme question 'Guilty or Not Guilty' shall be decided by ordinary folk."_

Fudge was confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Harry just called you a dictator, Minister. And that's what you'll be UNLESS you give Sirius a trial!" Fudge started sputtering at being called a tyrant, but Nico wasn't finished. "Sirius was thrown into Azkaban without being given a trial, as Director Bones can easily confirm. And seeing as how I brought Pettigrew to you and Dumbledore, that clears Sirius of that charge."

Harry took over then. "If Snape will bring us some Veritaserum, then you can find out the truth, and you _will_ announce that Sirius has been cleared of all charges. You can either do that, or Rita Skeeter will find out about two attempts at unfair executions. And considering how popular I am, how do you think that will reflect on your regime? I wouldn't put two Knuts on the odds of you still being in office by the time the next school year starts, would you?" He knew that using the name of that particular reporter-someone known for dragging people through the mud and finding dirty secrets, Fudge would have no choice but to agree. He'd have to thank Draco for telling him about her.

An extremely pale Fudge nodded and ordered that Sirius be questioned with Veritaserum the next morning. When he left, Harry fainted from pure exhaustion and relief. "Auror Dawlish, would you kindly take Harry back to the Hospital Wing? It seems that tonight's events have left him a little tired," Nico said. Dawlish grumbled, but did as he was told. Nico then sent another Patronus, calling Tonks to guard Sirius until the next morning, at which time, Fudge had agreed to question Sirius with Veritaserum.

* * *

><p>The next morning, June 4, right after breakfast, Fudge was walking back to Flitwick's office, where both Sirius and Pettigrew were waiting. With him were Tonks, Dawlish and Amelia Bones representing the Auror Corps, Snape with the vials of Veritaserum, Draco, Harry, Hermione and Nico. As the news about the interrogation had gotten out (as secrets always did at Hogwarts,) several curious students followed, including Susan Bones, Cedric and all five Weasleys, although Percy and Ron were quite reluctant. All the while Percy kept proclaiming that they should just accept the Ministers' decision to give him the Kiss, after all, everyone knew that Black was guilty (just look at his family for proof of that!) and Peter was a hero, a recipient of the Order of Merlin! Ron simply didn't want to be there because of the Malfoy cousins and his former friend. Lupin and Neville would have been there, but both were in the Hospital Wing, recovering from their extremely long day, which had only ended when Neville had brought the naked teacher in a little after sunrise. Once they had gotten into the Hospital Wing, Neville found a bed and collapsed on it, completely exhausted.<p>

As soon as they entered the Charms classroom, Dawlish and Tonks carried the two men into the room from Flitwick's office and Dawlish administered the Veritaserum to Sirius. As head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia asked all the questions.

"What is your name?"

"Sirius Orion 'Padfoot' Black." The Twins started at that. One of their idols was the infamous Sirius Black? Next thing they knew, one of their teachers would be a Marauder!

"How old are you?"

"I turned 36 on May 16."

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"No."

"Were you ever a Death Eater?"

"No."

"Did you betray the Potters to You-Know-Who?"

"No."

"Were you the Secret Keeper for the Potters?"

"No, never. James asked me to be the Secret Keeper, but I suggested Peter Pettigrew. We knew that someone close to the Potters was a spy, but I never suspected Peter, he was too weak. Lily didn't like it, but James convinced her to go with it."

"What happened the night of October 31, 1990?"

"I went to check on Peter as we had planned to do every night for the first week. He had agreed to stay in his home for the first week so I wouldn't have to look for him. However, when I arrived there, Peter wasn't there. There was also no sign of a struggle, so I was worried. I immediately left for Godric's Hollow to check on the Potters. By the time I arrived, Voldemort had already been there. I found James on the first floor, and covered him with a nearby blanket. When I went up to check on Lily and Harry, Hagrid came down carrying Harry. I tried to take Harry so I could raise him, but Hagrid refused, saying that Dumbledore had insisted that Harry be brought to him. When I realized that Hagrid wouldn't give him up, I gave him my flying motorcycle so he could get there safely. Once they had taken off, I went hunting Peter."

"What happened the night of November 2?"

"I had been hunting Peter for two nights and had finally caught up to him in a Muggle city, Exeter I think it was. Peter called out asking how I could have betrayed Lily and James, then before I could draw my wand, he blew up the street behind him and changed into his Animagus form. The only thing left was his finger. I was so shocked that Peter had gotten the best of me that I started laughing. Not a minute later, the Hit Wizards and Alastor Moody arrested me."

"Why isn't Pettigrew registered as an Animagus?"

"Our entire group of friends became Animagi while we were students so that we could help Remus through his nights as a werewolf. We had planned to register after graduating, but we realized that keeping our forms a secret would have it's advantages in the war, so we decided to register once the war had finished."

Nearly everyone was in shock, but none more so than Snape. Black hadn't betrayed his little sister? He had nearly condemned an innocent man to a fate worse than death . . . over a school-boy grudge? He knew that the Veritaserum was about to wear off, so he asked the one question that had been burning in his mind for seventeen years. "Why did you attempt to kill me in 1986?"

"I never meant to kill you, Severus. I had just found out that Regulus was forced to join the Death Eaters to save my life and you were taunting me about it and Remus so I lashed out. I had forgotten that it was the full moon that night and I never believed that you would listen to me, otherwise I would have never told you. As soon as James reminded me, I begged him to save you. I knew that you wouldn't listen to me again. We would have never tried to pull a prank that could be lethal, Severus, especially against you. You were too much fun pranking normally, and you always had some of the best revenge schemes. I am truly sorry for what I did that night, Severus." Satisfied, Snape silently forgave Sirius for that night, not that he'd ever tell him. Their rivalry was, as Black had put it, too much fun! He would lay off Potter though. "Lily also had a message for you, _I'm sorry, and I forgive you._" Severus was floored at that. Lily had forgiven him for the worst mistake of his life? He quickly walked out of the classroom to his room and finally started grieving for his lost friendship, and moving past those terrible day.

Percy on the other hand was furious. How dare Potter cause so much trouble for the Ministry? Everyone knew that Black had betrayed the Potters and killed those Muggles. (Not that he valued Muggles all that much. They were terrible creatures, and Mudbloods weren't much better, especially that stuck-up know-it-all Granger. How dare she get better grades than him, a pureblood?!) The Ministry had arrested Black and thrown him into Azkaban, thus he must be guilty. After all, the Ministry was always right, simply because it was the Ministry. And he intended to prove it once and for all. "If you weren't guilty, then why did you break out of Azkaban?"

"When Fudge visited Azkaban last time, he gave me his copy of the _Prophet_ as he always did. On the cover, I saw Pettigrew in his rat form. I also noticed that he belonged to a boy that was going to Hogwarts, where Harry was. I didn't dare leave Harry there unprotected, with a traitor in the same building as him, so I broke out using my Animagus form of a Grim to escape. I would have broken out earlier, but I knew that, without Peter, I would never be believed." Percy stormed out, furious that he couldn't be proven right. The little liar had obviously done _something_ to get Black to be able to lie under Veritaserum. Ron followed him, refusing to believe that Scabbers could _possibly_ be an Animagus.

By that time, the Veritaserum had finally worn off, so Amelia nodded at Tonks. Tonks quickly administered the Veritaserum and Amelia asked the first question. "What is your name?"

"Peter Judas 'Wormtail' 'Scabbers' Pettigrew."

"How old are you?"

"I turned 36 on April 13."

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"Yes."

"When did you become a Death Eater?"

"Officially or unofficially?"

"Officially."

"I officially joined on September 20, 1988."

"What did you do to join the Death Eaters?"

"I kidnapped a dozen Muggles and Mudbloods and brought them before the Dark Lord. I then tortured and Defiled all of them." He then started describing everything he did to each of them, in extreme detail. To the shock of nearly everyone there, he had shown no preference to gender, and preferred younger children. The Weasley twins quickly covered Ginny's ears so that she wouldn't have to hear anything. They were completely disgusted that they had let him stay in the house with them for thirteen years! How had they missed him? Pettigrew was nearly done when the most shocking revelation came. "The last one I had chosen specifically because she was Lily Evans' Muggle sister. By that time, I was extremely tired, so I just Defiled her once and tortured her with the Cruciatus Curse. She was the only one to escape alive. And when the Dark Lord becomes strong enough, I shall join him once again. And he _will_ return, mark my words."

As Harry was confused about the term, Harry turned to a _very_ pale Draco and whispered "What does he mean he Defiled them?"

Draco shuddered at the phrase before explaining. "It's our term for forcing yourself on another, sexually. I know the Muggles consider it a crime, but I don't know their name for it."

"Rape, it's called rape."

"Well, it's much worse for us than for Muggles, Harry. If a witch or wizard is Defiled, we lose control of our magic and it eventually kills us, no exception. It is _the worst_ crime in our world, only the worst of the Death Eaters would even _think_ about committing it. It's an immediate death sentence for a witch or wizard that is defiled because their _magic _turns against them. If someone is caught doing it, they are _immediately_ sent through the Death Veil in the Department of Mysteries, no time in Azkaban, no chance for the Kiss. In this case, the Wizengamot will need to convict him, but the sentence will be the same. Most of us, if we want someone sexually and they aren't willing, we give them a love or lust potion so that they _are _willing, that's basically why they were invented, for Merlin's sake! Even if a Dark wizard used the Imperious Curse, it would still be Defilement, because they are forcing the body to go along. To think that the rat could do that to eight Muggleborns . . . it's unthinkable!"

Harry nodded to let Draco know that he understood, but the fact that Pettigrew had raped his aunt and the timing of it made him suspicious. He knew that Petunia had been dating Vernon at the time, but only dating. He also knew that their engagement had been shockingly quick and they had gotten married . . . a mere two months after the Defilement. As Pettigrew confessed to betraying his parents and framing Sirius, Harry nearly collapsed in shock, and he would have if it hadn't been for Draco and Cedric catching him. That was the reason Pettigrew looked so similar, he was Dudley's father! He had a Squib for a cousin, and not just any Squib, but the Squib son of his parent's betrayer! Harry was in so much shock that he only barely heard Amelia and Fudge agree Sirius was innocent and that Pettigrew was to be immediately sent to Azkaban while he awaited a date to be Kissed.

**A/N:** The spell _Ic the withdraf_ is taken straight from BBC's _Merlin_, and is the Celtic version of _Stupefy_. The _italicized underlined_ quote is, as I said in the chapter, taken directly from Winston Churchill. The idea of rape as the terrible crime of Defilement and it's effects on wizards comes from SensiblyTainted's story _Growing Pains_. The idea of Dudley being the son of Peter Pettigrew and not Vernon Dursley is completely mine. (And has never been done, so far as I know.) I have Pettigrew getting caught for a simple reason: I don't believe that even the prophecy's of a True Seer are completely unavoidable. As Dumbledore said in _Order of the Phoenix: The Lost Prophecy_, if Voldemort had heard the second half of the prophecy, it might never have come to pass. But because of Destiny, the prophecies are fulfilled. In this, Fate is a bit kinder to Harry. Oh, and does anyone have _any idea at all_ as to WHEN those blood wards were set up? Based on my reading of PS/SS: The-Boy-Who-Lived, Dumbledore was at Privet Drive for a few minutes talking to McGonagall, Hagrid arrives, they drop Harry off, then all three leave. When are those 'impenetrable' wards set up?


	14. New Arrangements

**A/N:** As usual, _italicized underlined_ words are quotes from Winston Churchill. _**Bold Italics**_ are titles of articles from _The Daily Prophet._

**Altered Fates**

**Part Three: Sirius Trouble**

**Chapter Fourteen: New Arrangements**

The June 4th evening edition of _The_ _Daily Prophet_ carried the headline. _**Sirius Black Innocent! Peter Pettigrew Arrested For Betrayal of Potters and Death Eater Crimes!**_ For once, Rita Skeeter told nothing but the truth in her article, although that might have been thanks to Draco's intervention more than her goodwill. The next morning, their final day at Hogwarts until fall and the day before Draco's birthday, Tonks surprised Harry and his group of friends by visiting them. "Tonks, cousin! What's going on?" Draco asked.

"We've got a problem, Draco, and I figured I better warn you." They all knew it was serious just based on how she looked. As a Metamorphmagus (a wizard/witch that could change their appearance at will,) Tonks usually had cheerful, bubble-gum pink hair. Now however, she had her natural, deep brown hair that was reminiscent of her Aunt Narcissa's hair colour. The only time that she went natural was when she was depressed. "Last night, a group of Hit Wizards were escorting Pettigrew to Azkaban until the Wizengamot could agree on the date of his execution. Now, we're not completely sure what happened, but something happened to allow Pettigrew to escape."

"The rat escaped?!" Nico exclaimed. After all the trouble he went through trying to catch the bloody rat that year, the professionals let him escape? "Where's he going? Is he coming back here?"

"No, the last anyone saw, he was swimming hard for the Continent. Dumbledore seems to think that he's heading for Albania."

_"That's the first I've heard of a rat swimming towards a sinking ship,"_ Harry quoted, not that he was completely surprised. Neville had told them about Trelawney's prophecy the previous afternoon and they were all surprised to hear the part that said the rat was supposed to have escaped before midnight. Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Harry asked "So, why are you telling me this?"

"Because Dumbledore is trying to use this information to convince Sirius to not take custody of you and leave you with your aunt and uncle."

To Tonks' shock, Harry's eyes immediately changed to the bright green of the Killing Curse and he shot up. "Fred, George! I need you two to come with me right now. Draco, Nico, you as well. I might need your knowledge and influence before this is over."

"Sure thing, Harry, but where are we going?"

"We're going to see Dumbledore, Draco. I am _not_ going back to the Dursleys, not with Sirius free! I was willing to go back to them because there was no one else to take me in and Dumbledore said that I couldn't stay here because I still had living relatives, but no more, not when I'm finally free to dream of a future! The Twins are coming so that they can back me up and prove just how out of whack they are at Number 4 Privet Drive."

By the time the group had arrived at Dumbledore's office, Cedric and Hermione had joined them. The Twins quickly gave the password of "Lemon Drops," and walked in only to find Sirius already arguing with Dumbledore. "-I'm his godfather! How could you _possibly_ believe that I wouldn't try to take Harry in after I was freed, especially considering he wants me to take him? And how dare you send him to Petunia?! You _know_ that Lily never wanted Harry to go to her! Why do you think her and James added in so many possible people to raise him? She even wanted Cissy to take him over Petunia, and Cissy is married to Lucius! I have no idea how Draco turned out so good with _him_ for a father, but you need to think, Dumbledore! Lily would have rather had a _Death Eater_ raise Harry than her sister!" Draco and Harry stared at each other in shock. They could have been raised as brothers?

"Is Sirius telling the truth, sir? If he is, then why did you send me to Petunia?"

"Yes, Sirius is telling the truth, but I had my reasons. I knew that Voldemort's knowledge of magic is perhaps more extensive than any wizard alive. I knew that even my most complex and powerful protective spells and charms were unlikely to be invincible if he ever returned to full power.

"But I knew, too, where Voldemort was weak. And so I made my decision. You would be protected by an ancient magic of which he knows, which he despises, and which he has always, therefore, underestimated - to his cost. I am speaking, of course, of the fact that your mother died to save you. She gave you a lingering protection he never expected, a protection that flows in your veins to this day. I put my trust, therefore, in your mother's blood. I delivered you to her sister, her only remaining relative. She may have taken you grudgingly, furiously, unwillingly, bitterly, yet still she took you, and in doing so, she sealed the charm I placed upon you. Your mother's sacrifice made the bond of blood the strongest shield I could give you.

"While you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge. You need return there only once a year, but as long as you can still call it home, while you are there he cannot hurt you. Your aunt knows this. I explained what I had done in the letter I left, with you, on her doorstep. She knows that allowing you houseroom may well have kept you alive for the past thirteen years."

Nico stared at him in shock. "Blood wards? Are you talking about blood wards?" Dumbledore nodded, and Cedric asked what blood wards were. "They are an ancient protection, part of the old Celtic magic. As such, it is extremely powerful and potent, but there's a problem." Dumbledore stared in disbelief. His plan was perfect for the Greater Good of the Wizarding World. They would all praise him for his success, despite the means! How could this foolish, filthy half-blood _boy_ claim that there was a problem with his plan? He was the Great Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Defeater of the infamous Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald, maker of the Philosopher's Stone, Chief Warlock of the British Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards! He could do no wrong, he was perfect, every plan he made was perfect and would come to pass exactly as he planned it, because _he_ planned it! Everyone said so, so it must be true. Nico continued over Dumbledore's self-praise. "Blood wards require not only a blood relative, but also a loving family, and that the one being protected calls it home. Harry, have you ever called it home?"

"Are you joking? It's a prison for me! Ever since I found out about the Dementors guarding Azkaban, I've called it Durzkaban, it's that bad! I'd rather die living on the streets, standing on my own feet than live on my knees begging for the scraps I get there!"

"I thought so. That means, professor, that the wards are at their weakest, they barely do anything! And that's only one part of the weakness. The second part comes from what we know about Voldemort. Knowing him, he is going to be using the Resurrection Potion/Ritual in order to return. Sirius, how good was the rat at potions?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, he was amazing at potions. He was easily tied for first place when it came to grades. His only competition came from Lily and Snivel-err, I mean Snape. He could easily make the Resurrection Potion in, say, eight months, no more. Most would take about a year to make it. And it can sit for up to two years before the final ingredients need to be added."

"And what does this potion have to do with my wards, Mr Grace?"

"Everything, prof. Knowing Voldemort, he will want to make it the best possible potion for himself, and thus will require one of the final ingredients from Harry."

"What do you mean, final ingredients, Sirius? And why did you call it a ritual, Neeks?" Nev asked, using his favourite nickname for his friend.

Nico explained "The last three ingredients are what make it a ritual. The ritual requires, and I quote 'Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son. Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed, you will revive your master. Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe.' The key ingredient Voldemort needs from Harry is blood, and knowing him and his pride, he will not accept any other's blood. So, the second that the rat takes the blood, your wards will fail, and Voldemort will be able to destroy 4 Privet whenever he likes. Thus, the flaw in your plan, professor. Then there's the fact that the Killing Curse does _not _shed any blood, so where does the blood for the wards come from? Besides, what is the point of him living there when you let him leave before the summer is over? Sounds to me like the wards don't work as well as they're supposed to right now, and you know it."

"That's not possible. They are family, how could they not love each other?"

"Quite easily, professor!" Harry shouted, his eyes unchanged from the Avada-green. "What kind of _family _would throw a member into a cupboard for eleven years? That's where my first Hogwarts letters were addressed, _the cupboard under the stairs!_ It was my room until Hagrid came and delivered my letter! I'm their house-elf, and I think even Lucius treated his house-elves better than the Muggles treated me! I was beaten black and blue every time I made a mistake or did a little magic! I got at least a black eye every week! I am positively _never_ going back! I'd rather die standing than live on my knees to them! I was fed just enough to keep me healthy and given Dudley's old clothes just so I'd be 'less of a burden!' The only thing they _ever_ bought me was my glasses when I started school! How many _families _do that? How many _families_ put bars on bedroom windows to keep someone _in?_ Those Muggles did that after Dobby did his levitation charm!"

"Now, Harry, it's not nice to blame an elf for something you did, especially since elves don't go to Muggle homes."

Harry was getting even madder than normal and his eyes had shifted to an even brighter green than normal. "Oh, really? Draco, how do you summon a house-elf?"

Instead of answering, Draco just called out "Dobby!" The elf immediately popped into Dumbledore's office. "Dobby, when you visited Harry to give my warning, did you perform any magic there?"

"Dobby did, Master Draco. Dobby floated a cake over the Muggle's heads and dropped in on them. Master Draco said Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts, so Dobby did magic to match Harry Potter's wand and get him expelled. Master Draco wanted to keep Harry Potter safe from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, so Harry Potter could not go back to Hogwarts." Draco then thanked Dobby and asked if he had found a place to work yet. Dobby quickly bobbed his head before explaining "Yes sir, Master Draco! Dobby now works in the Hogwarts Kitchens, sir! Dumbledore even pays me four Galleons every month!" Draco stared at Dumbledore in shock before thanking Dumbledore for hiring him.

Dobby had just popped away when the twins joined the argument. "And don't you dare even trying to suggest that Harry's lying about the bars on his window!" George yelled.

"We had to remove those bars when we came and rescued him!" Fred finished.

Sirius was furious at what Harry and the Twins had said. "Beatings? Bars on windows? That's it! Harry, you are _not_ going back there ever again! Find out if any of your friend's parents are willing to take you for a few weeks."

Harry was hurt at that suggestion. "But what about you? Can't I live with you, Sirius?"

Sirius got down to his knees so he could look Harry in the eye. "You're going to, Harry. But first I need to gain legal custody of you and find out what properties we own. Trust me, you _don't _want to live where I grew up."

"Sirius, as long as I lived with you, I'd be happy living in the Shrieking Shack!"

"I know how you feel, Harry. I felt the same way if it meant getting away from my parents. But I want to give you the kind of life that James and Lily would have given you if they had lived, and that means you need to be a little patient."

"Harry _must_ return to the Dursleys, Sirius. The wards need to be renewed, or do you _want_ the Dursleys to die?"

"Why ask Sirius? _I_ was the one to live with them for twelve years while my godfather languished in prison for a crime he never committed! And I don't care what happens to those Muggles! If Voldemort goes after them, then I won't lift a finger to save them. He can torture them for years on end and I won't shed a tear."

Everyone in the room stared in shock at Harry's proclamation. How bad had the Muggles been if Harry, a guy who would forgive _Draco_ after the events of the previous year, was willing to leave them to Voldemort? Sirius quickly dragged his godson out of Dumbledore's office. They had just passed the Griffin entrance when Cedric remembered something. "Harry, you said that the Muggles beat you? Then how come nobody noticed anything when you joined the Quidditch team?"

The Twins started chuckling at that while Harry groaned. "Who says nobody noticed anything? My magic managed to heal most of my wounds, but I still ended up with scars on my back. After Oliver allowed me on the team, I ran to the library and searched the books until I found the Disillusionment Charm. I managed to get it to work enough that I could hide my scars. But these two gits," here he pointed at the still-chuckling Twins, "managed to figure out what was going on. They tricked me into telling them about my scars and promised to help me out. Fred would Disillusion my scars better than I could while George managed to get me a potion that reduced my scars to almost nothing by Christmas last year before losing their effectiveness. The Basilisk venom finished the job."

Draco snapped his fingers. "So that's why they wanted it! The Twins had approached me in October during First Year and asked for the Scar Reducing potion. Even then they knew I was one of the best brewers in Hogwarts. They had claimed that they needed it because their experiments kept blowing up on them. You actually needed it for Harry, right?" The Twins nodded.

"That's also why you're so much more protective of Harry than Ron, isn't it?" Hermione asked.

"Of course. Harry-"

"Is a better-"

"Little brother than-"

"Ickle Ronniekins."

"Besides-"

"Harry appreciates-"

"Our jokes!" the Twins said.

"Alright then, that just leaves the question of where Harry's going to stay until I can figure out where we're going to stay," Sirius said. "Fred, George, any possibility of Harry staying with you?"

The Twins looked at each other and Harry, and all three shook their heads. "Sorry, Sirius, but I don't think so. Our mum and dad think the sun shines out of Dumbledore's arse, and hearing that Harry isn't living where he says will make Mum blow her top. Especially when she hears who he's going to be living with."

"George, language!"

Nico laughed. "First off Mione, that's Fred, not George. Second what's wrong with his language, it's English."

Everyone laughed at that, except for Hermione who just glared at him. "Alright then, so not the Weasley's. What about you, Cedric?" Cedric and Harry just blushed at that idea. "OK, what's with the blush, Prongslet?" Nobody answered, most of them because they had no proof. Draco knew, but he had promised Harry to keep quiet until he was ready. Both Cedric and Harry weren't quite ready to come out about their relationship yet, not until they'd sounded out their guardians and Cedric had graduated. "Okaay, for some reason, the Diggory's is out. Nico, what about you?"

Nico stared at him for about a minute before bursting out in laughter. "Sirius, are you kidding me? Harry wouldn't survive the night at my home! Mum's as much of a Death Eater as Uncle Lucy, no offence Draco."

"None taken, cousin of mine. Wait a minute, Uncle _LUCY?_" Nico nodded. Draco burst out in laughter before saying "Oh, I _dare _you to call him that to his face, cousin!"

"What will you give me?"

"Respect."

Sirius jumped in before his cousins could continue. "HOLD IT! Nico, what do you mean your mother is as much of a Death Eater as Lucius? She had been in Gryffindor with us and one of the most outspoken against Slytherins and Voldemort."

"That was then. Either Uncle Lucy got to her, or she's just showing her true colours now."

"_Great_, so what about you, Hermione?"

"I _might_ be able to convince my parents to take Harry in for a couple weeks. They won't exactly be happy about the short notice though. Do you mind staying with me, Harry?"

"Mione, how could I possibly mind? You're one of my best friends, of course I won't mind. I mean, you're parents couldn't be as bad as the Dursleys, could they?" Hermione shook her head, though Nico was just a tad bit worried. There was something about her actions that seemed somewhat forced. Oh well, it's not like Harry would have to worry about them for long, and if there was trouble, then there was no way that Harry or Sirius would leave Mione there either.

"Well, that's settled then! Hermione, better send your parents a letter letting them know about Harry. I should be by your house in a week to pick him up. Harry, I've got something for you." Sirius reached inside his cloak and pulled out what appeared to be an ordinary hand-held mirror, if a little on the large side. But as he looked closer, Harry could see a line of runes along the rim. "Your dad and I made these mirrors while we were in Third Year so we could talk when we had separate detentions. I think it's only fair that you get his now, so we can talk when we can't rely on owls. Now, go on, you better get back down to the Great Hall." Harry quickly thanked him and the group quickly headed towards the Great Hall.

However, Harry didn't go straight down to the Great Hall, as their route happened to pass by the Defence classroom, and he noticed to his shock that Lupin was packing. "Go on guys, I want to talk to him real quick." Reluctant to leave Harry after the revelations they'd had, they eventually left for the Great Hall, leaving Harry to talk to Lupin. "Why are you packing, Professor? You haven't been sacked, have you?"

"No, I resigned. It seems that Percy and Ron were quite upset with Scabbers turning out to be Pettigrew and let slip the nature of my condition. This time tomorrow the letters will come flooding in, and parents will not want a . . . well, someone like me teaching their children. And after the other night, I can see their point. I could have bitten any of you, and that must never happen again."

"But you're the best Defence Professor we've ever had! Even Cedric and Draco say so!"

"Been spending a lot of time with Cedric then, Harry?" Harry felt his cheeks reddening and attempted to control his blush, not that it worked much. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone until you're ready. Besides, people like me are . . . well, let's just say that I'm used to it by now. In any case, I wouldn't have been able to come back next year even if I wanted to."

"Why's that?"

Remus pulled out his paper and pointed at an article on the bottom fold of the Ministry section: _**Umbridge Passes New Werewolf Restriction Law**_. "That law makes it far more difficult for us to find jobs, and none around children. But I don't regret my time here. If I am proud of anything, it is how much you have learned this year."

Harry then decided to ask a couple of questions that had been bothering him since that fateful night. "Professor, during the Quidditch match, Draco said my Patronus was a stag, but when I saved Sirius, I saw a badger. Then Nico's Cobra Patronus managed to destroy a Dementor when it bit it. How's that possible?"

"Well, to answer your first question, Harry, a Patronus, unlike an Animagus form, can change when you have an emotional upheaval, like falling in love. Your original Patronus of a Stag, whether you knew it or not, was James' Animagus form. Your new Patronus probably represents your love for Cedric, a consummate Hufflepuff if there ever was one. As for Nico, well, if I'd taught you the theory, you'd know that already. So, one quick, final lesson. There are two kinds of Patroni: Shield and Corporeal. The Shield is what you were producing during our lessons, while a Corporeal has a physical form that you can identify. The Corporeal also has two forms, Guardian and Sentinel. The Guardian is the typical Patronus, and what both of yours are. It gained the name of Guardian because all it does is guard people and chase Dementors away. The Sentinel Patronus on the other hand, is extremely rare. In fact, the last Sentinel Patronus that I know of belonged to Salazar Slytherin, but as I told you, I am far from an expert on Patroni. A Sentinel Patronus is quite similar to a Guardian Patronus, except for the fact that it can go on the offensive, and as you saw, if it gets close enough, it can actually destroy a Dementor. No one except for Nico knows what kind of memories are needed to produce such a Patronus."

Lupin paused for a minute to continue packing before turning to the Map. "Now, as I am no longer your teacher, I have no guilt whatsoever in giving this back to you, although you really should find James' copy."

"What do you mean, my dad's copy?"

"Well, you got that from Filch's office, didn't you?" Harry nodded. He _did_ get it from Filch's office, indirectly. The Twins stole it from Filch, and then gave it to him. "Well, the only one of us that got our Map confiscated was Pettigrew. We each had our own copy of the Map and we each made our own modifications to it, all except for Peter that is."

"What happened to yours?"

Lupin sighed before answering. "After I heard that Sirius had supposedly betrayed us, I burned mine. Two of us were dead, one had retreated to the Muggle world, one might as well be dead, and the last had never liked me, so I burned nearly everything I had that reminded me of those days. Now, I'll say farewell, Harry. I feel certain that we will meet again, one day. But until then," he pointed his wand at the rat's Map and said "mischief managed." The map quickly folded up and wiped itself clean, once again appearing to be a simple piece of blank parchment. Lupin then grabbed his trunks and walked out the door.

* * *

><p>That night Dumbledore <em>finally<em> handed out the House Cup, which, much like the Quidditch Cup, turned out to be a tie. But this time, the tie was between Gryffindor and Slytherin, thanks to Draco earning a few last minute points due to his actions in saving Buckbeak and Sirius. The next day they all got on the train, and celebrated Draco's birthday with a bang (literally, as the Twins set off their last Filibuster Fireworks inside the train!) As the celebration wound down, Fred asked Harry, "So, Harry, would you mind explaining why you were so happy to get the Map?"

"Sure thing, Fred. As you've probably guessed, the Dursleys hate anything to do with magic, and as such said absolutely nothing about my parents. Or at least, nothing true. So I value anything to do with my parents, and thanks to Nico, I knew about the Marauders. When I saw _Prongs_ on the map, I realized that you guys had given me a treasure-something that my dad helped make."

"Do you know who the other Marauders are?"

"Easy, George. Nico here is the son of Sarah 'Buck' Malfoy and Eric 'Spike' Grace, my godfather, as you heard, is Sirius 'Padfoot' Black, the _traitor _is Wormtail, and we all studied under Professor Remus 'Moony' Lupin." At the last revelation, the Twins fainted in shock. A Marauder as a teacher? Oh, the shame! It was almost as bad as being a Prefect or Head Boy!

One hour later, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform 9 3/4, and for the first time, Harry got off with a feeling of hope for the future. He wasn't going back to the Dursleys, he had a godfather that was going to take care of him, he was finally friends with Draco, and soon he would have a home. Life could hardly get any better. He followed Hermione off the magical platform, looking forward to meeting her family.

But before she could spot them, Harry spotted the Dursleys. "Come on, boy! I haven't got all day," Vernon yelled, looking even more desperate to get away than ever before.

"Go on home, Vernon. If we're lucky, then we never have to see each other again."

"What's that supposed to mean, boy?!"

"Simple, Vernon. My godfather is going to be taking care of me from now on."

"Godfather? You haven't got a godfather!"

"Yes, I have. He was believed to be a murderer, but he broke out of wizard prison and I cleared his name. So, unless you want to make him mad, I suggest you go home, _Vermin_." Vernon spluttered, but followed Harry's advice.

"Harry! These are my parents, Drs William and Julia Granger. Mum, dad, this is my best friend, Harry Potter. Harry, they said you can stay!"

Harry turned to see . He held out his hand to William and said "It's an honour to meet the parents of the brightest witch at Hogwarts, sir."

William started at Harry's action, but shook his hand. "Thank you, Harry. I hope I don't have to worry about any . . . inappropriate behaviour between you two, do I?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and laughed. "Sir, I love your daughter, but most definitely _not_ romantically! We see each other as brother and sister." William grunted his approval and the four walked out to what would prove to be one of the best summers Harry ever had.

Back on Platform 9 3/4, Nico was being officially introduced to his Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius by Draco. "Good to meet you Aunt Cissy, Uncle Lucy."

Lucius glared at his nephew, while Narcissa giggled at the old nickname. "Where did you ever hear that nickname, Nico?"

"From Sirius, where else Aunty?" Nico answered with a laugh. He could tell that he was going to get on famously with his aunt. Lucius on the other hand just dragged them to the Floo so they could get to Malfoy Manor and he could punish the boy for the nickname. Oh yes, Nico Grace would regret the day he called Lucius Malfoy by that name, and dared to enter his house, family or not! And then there was his son! Yes, Draco needed to be punished for befriending a _Potter_, let alone _that_ Potter. The Dark Lord would never forgive him for that, and he had very nearly returned.


End file.
